Hello! This is Kate. I’m the ‘dreamer’ behind moor morocco. Together with Pink Jinn Souq we bring you a divine collection of handmade Moroccan babouches. Our collaboration is born of a mutual passion for making a real sustainable difference in this world. So, let me take this super exciting opportunity to share my story…
Let’s start at the beginning… on 20 November 1976, I made a very surprising premature entrance into this world! Even as a teeny human being, it appeared that I was destined to experience a life less ordinary. Tenacious and resilient from the get go, I was born ready for life’s adventure.
An adventure that would take me from Bradford, northern England, all around the world. An adventure that, with every experience, person and place, nourished the passion and curiosity in my soul. From an early age, I was exposed to rich, multi-cultural diversity which fed my fascination for exploring and experiencing everything… whole-heartedly! It was clear to me that life was precious and I intended to enjoy it.
Despite not loving school and struggling to follow the ’norm’, I spotted an opportunity and seized it with both hands… university! I loved languages and had an inkling this was my ticket to explore the world. I scraped just enough A levels to read Spanish at Staffordshire University and with a whole year living and studying in Valencia, Spain. Yehah!
I immersed myself in Spanish life. And loved it! The architecture, the markets, the sun, the gardens of palm and orange trees, the food… Valencia was more than I ever dreamed. One thing really fascinated me – the influence of Islamic and Arabic heritage of the Moorish people. That was it – a fire in my soul was set ablaze.
A year or so after graduating, I moved to London and tried every ’normal’ job under the sun. Great for gaining a lot of experience. Not so great for my soul! What I really dreamed of was working for myself! But doing what? One day, faced with putting savings into an extortionately expensive flat in North London or using them to explore Cuba and South America with nothing but a backpack, there was only one choice. What an incredible, life-changing trip! Inspirational beyond words and feeding the seeds of curiosity, creativity and entrepreneurship.
Now, let’s fast forward a few years! And to Bristol. I worked in the organic and natural food scene. Holding firmly onto that vision of launching my business, I pondered how and what. Until I fell head over heels in love with the aromas, flavours and benefits of loose leaf tea. With a growing UK gourmet coffee scene, it was a struggle to find good tea. Et voila! This passionate discovery, a gap in the market and valuable experience led me on an amazing entrepreneurial adventure…
I launched Lahloo in 2006 – a gourmet loose leaf tea brand named after the tea clipper sailed by my great-great grandfather. On a journey of tea discovery, I hunted out artisan tea leaves, herbs, spices and flowers from independent growers, sharing the stories of the passionate people and fascinating cultures behind each one – inspiring tea drinkers in innovative ways combining tea heritage and culture from all over the world. In 2008, my tea hunt led me for the first time to the magical Kingdom of Morocco…
From the moment I arrived, I was at home in Morocco. It was a coup de foudre; I was in love! Such an intoxicating and sensual blend of exotic sounds, aromas, flavours, colours, textures, patterns, landscapes, architecture, animals and people. I wandered in awe, getting wonderfully lost in the souks and soaking up everything.
Sipping mint tea, savouring street vendor delicacies, discovering myriad herbs, tisanes and spices, admiring skilful artisans hand making everything and anything, choosing buttery-soft, rainbow-coloured, handmade leather babouches and watching rooftop sunsets as the sound of the adan (call to prayer) rang out loud and a gentle calm fell over the medina. I was mesmerised. And just like that, another seed was planted.
It was almost 8 years before that seed came to bloom. By 2011 I had built Lahloo from a spare room, farmers market operation to a multi award-winning online retail and premium wholesale brand and opened the first concept tea store and cafe, Lahloo Pantry. But in 2013, following a magical sourcing trip to the tea and cinnamon groves of Galle, Sri Lanka, at what felt like the time of my life with all my hard work flourishing, things came crashing down. Suddenly, mid 30’s, I was facing the harsh reality of bankruptcy, navigating a divorce and set to lose almost everything. It was by far the toughest chapter of my life, but also the most transformational – of course!
Almost three years passed in a blur of doing what I could to rebuild my life. Returning to the corporate grind while holding my dreams in my heart. Making my way through every challenge with sheer grit and determination, a lot of love from friends and family and an unshakable faith that there was light at the end of the tunnel. I turned a corner in 2015 and began turning those dreams into reality once again.
I was ready to step into a new adventure. Really ready! And Morocco was calling… But this time I decided to move to Morocco. I found a cracking opportunity for work in Marrakech to get me started, packed a few belongings and, with the vision of launching another innovative brand firmly in my heart, set off on a wild and wonderful Moroccan adventure.
Very quickly it became apparent that a) the furnace of Marrakech Summer wasn’t for me and b) to gain insight and to help build the foundation of my next venture, as lovely as Marrakech was, I needed to move. A trip to Casablanca made the choice easy. What a crazy beautiful city – and so undervalued! So much more than the infamous city in the iconic movie. A real, vibrant, dynamic city embodying every juxtaposition of the melting pot of modern and ancient Moroccan heritage and culture that makes Morocco so magical.
I immersed myself in getting to know real Morocco and real Moroccans. The more I discovered, the more I loved. And the more I loved, the more Moroccans found it hilarious! It became my mission to create a concept that would celebrate Morocco in a way that Moroccans, as well as the rest of the world, could fall in love with. Suddenly doors began opening and one thing, of course, led to another.
Beginning with bespoke street food and street art tours, I treated intrepid tourists, ignoring advice to skip Casablanca, to the gems this incredible city had to offer. My adventures, alongside freelance consultancy for an emerging organic and natural product scene, provided incredible opportunities to connect directly with artisans and source beautiful products.
It became a standing joke whenever I turned up wearing my ‘beldi’ (traditional) Moroccan treasures. Especially the day I rocked up wearing my new leopard print babouches (unaware that, apparently, only ‘certain types’ of ladies wear leopard print in Morocco)! Then it came to me in a flash…the very first Moroccan treasure I sourced from the souks years ago – Babouches!
I had an opportunity to make a real difference with an innovative brand celebrating artisan craftsmanship and Moroccan heritage in a new way. As I began to draw up designs for the traditional slipper and hunt out babouche makers, I learnt as much as I could about these beautiful ‘slippers’. The concept became clearer and clearer, as did my desire to do things differently. And I set out to create a transparent social enterprise and brand built on sustainable partnerships and collaborations with incredible artisans.
Then I met Simo. The eldest son of a family of award-winning babouche makers. From a tiny atelier deep in the Rabat-Sale souks, they create exquisite handmade leather babouches. It takes twenty four hours to skilfully create just one pair. Over Friday couscous and pots and pots of mint tea we began combining our ideas. Definitely a lot of fun in a mixture of French, English, Darija (Moroccan Arabic) and good old sign language! Little by little Simo began to appreciate the unique vision I had.
We went leather hunting together in the souks to source pieces of beautiful coloured premium remnant stock from the local merchants. This way each design was ‘limited edition’. We exchanged expertise and inspiration. Simo began to see Morocco through my eyes and we both began to understand how to take the traditional ways and rework them to create super stylish, luxuriously comfortable and long lasting footwear. InshaAllah (god willing) this is just the start of a long and wonderful partnership that will leave a legacy for generations to come.
Little by little (by reinvesting all our profits) we created our first collection. And in May 2019 the time came for me to return to the UK to establish the brand. I pulled myself away from Casablanca and landed in my home county of Yorkshire! And here I am… fuelled by the amazing memories and photos I have of my time in Morocco, regular chats with my friends, oh, and lots of mint tea!
Early days in any venture are challenging but this feels super exciting! I’m currently building a new online journal and store, creating new content and designs and exploring collaborations with like-minded concepts – like Pink Jinn – to come together to strengthen our shared vision and passions. And exciting things are happening in Morocco too, namely Simo’s recent move and our investment in a new atelier. InshaAllah we will be able to share more on that soon.
Pair by pair, step by step, b shwiya b shwiya (in Darija) we are achieving great things together! We invite you to join the adventure. Bigger than just a Moroccan-inspired brand, moor is a way of coming together and making a difference!
And, yes, inshaAllah I am looking forward to the day I return to Morocco (just that pesky global pandemic to emerge from). Isn’t life a wonderful, ever-evolving surprise! Each step twists and turns as the beauty of our footsteps unfolds. Yallah! Let’s go!