Emerging designer Anissa Meddeb creates clothing and accessories inspired by the intersection of North African culture and Eastern aesthetics. She talks to SOUKRA about her design process, how she embraces the slow fashion movement, and the importance of working with the Tunisian textile industry.
My line of clothing, ANISSA AIDA, is inspired by the interaction of cultures, mainly Japanese and Tunisian. The collections invoke classic Arab silhouettes with an architectural edge. Marrying ancestral elements with modern cuts, structures, colors and materials, the line is able to breathe new life into classic designs through loose-fitting shapes and structured lines.
Anissa Meddeb at the silk artisan’s workshop
All of ANISSA AIDA’s pieces are produced in Tunisia in an effort to support the local textile industry that has been facing a crisis following the Arab Spring. Tunisia’s textile production is one of the country’s main industries, and has proven its quality and competitiveness in the past.
Tunisian textiles (Images: Anissa Meddeb)
But, above all, my line belongs to the movement of slow fashion. When I learned that the fashion industry is one of the worst polluters in the world, I was impelled to be environmentally conscious. I pay close attention to the approaches and methods used for production. In reaction to fast fashion and the mass productions of clothes that have become disposable, I only use natural fibers and design pieces meant to be long-lasting.
Anissa with Moncef Chantouri and his brother
My products carry a cultural meaning by reinterpreting ancestral traditions that are slowly getting lost, such as the hand-weaving of silk. My pieces are ethical through the choice of materials, the collaboration with artisans and the methods of production, while being minimal and timeless to answers the needs of a modern, nomadic woman.
-Anissa Meddeb