Who Is Casablanca Paris? The House Charaf Tajer Built

Casablanca is the Paris house that made leisurewear worth taking seriously. Founded in 2018 by Charaf Tajer, it built its reputation on silk shirts printed with hand-painted artworks and on a tennis-club world it invented for itself. Here is who is behind it, what it actually makes, and where it sits against the rest of contemporary luxury.

Who founded Casablanca

Charaf Tajer was born in Paris in 1984 to Moroccan parents. Before Casablanca he co-founded Pigalle, the Parisian label and basketball-court project that ran through the 2010s, and he has said the community side of that work shaped how he thinks about a brand. Casablanca started in 2018 on a very small budget. Its first full collection showed during the Paris season in January 2019.

The name is not a reference to the 1942 film. It points at the Moroccan city and at the idea of somewhere warm that you travel to, which is the mood the collections keep returning to.

What the house actually makes

Tajer calls it après-sport. The clothes are built for the hours around sport rather than for playing it: the drink after the match, the drive back from the coast, the long lunch that turns into dinner. In practice that means couture fabrics cut into shapes borrowed from sportswear. Silk becomes a track jacket. Fine merino becomes a polo shirt. A tennis skirt gets pleated in viscose knit rather than technical nylon.

Two things recur across every season. The first is the print programme: collections start as hand-painted artworks, which are then enlarged into all-over prints on silk twill. The second is the house signage, the diamond monogram and the laurel motif, which appears on everything from a knit collar to a swimsuit chest. Because both carry season to season, Casablanca pieces bought years apart still read as a set.

Is Casablanca a luxury brand

Yes, in the way the term is normally used. It shows on the official Paris Fashion Week calendar, produces mainly in Italy and Portugal, and prices in line with other contemporary luxury houses. Silk shirts sit at the top of the range, with knitwear and jersey below.

On recognition: in 2020 Tajer was one of eight finalists for the LVMH Prize. That year the final was cancelled because of the pandemic and the prize was shared equally between all eight, which is why you will see Casablanca described as a joint winner in some places and a finalist in others. Both are fair. He was also a finalist for the International Woolmark Prize and the ANDAM Grand Prix in 2021.

Casablanca womenswear

The house began in menswear and a lot of what is written about it still assumes that. The womenswear line is now full ready-to-wear: knitwear, skirts, tops, tailoring, and a swim range that is designed to be seen out of the water as much as in it.

Sizing follows the European ladder, so an EU 36 is a UK 8 and an EU 40 is a UK 12. The main line runs slim and true to size. Collaboration pieces are usually cut on a unisex block and run large, so most women take one size down on those.

Where to buy it

Casablanca sells direct and through luxury multi-brand retailers. Coveti carries the womenswear line, and every piece is authenticity-checked before it ships. That matters more with this house than with most: Casablanca is copied heavily, and the tennis-club t-shirts and silk shirts get it worst. We wrote a separate guide on how to spot a fake Casablanca piece if you are buying anywhere else.

If you are deciding between houses, our comparison of brands like Casablanca sets it against the other names people cross-shop. Otherwise, browse the full Casablanca collection at Coveti.

Frequently asked questions

Who owns Casablanca?

Charaf Tajer founded the house in 2018 and remains its creative director. It is independent and is not part of a luxury conglomerate.

Is Casablanca a French brand?

It is a French house, based in Paris and showing on the Paris calendar. The Moroccan reference comes from Tajer’s own heritage and from the palette and the imagery, not from where the company sits.

Is Casablanca related to the film Casablanca?

No. The house takes its name from the Moroccan city. It has no connection to the 1942 film, to Casablanca Records, and to other businesses trading under the same name.

What is Casablanca best known for?

Hand-painted silk prints, the diamond monogram, and matching silk track sets. The tennis-club imagery is the thread that ties the collections together.