EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Sofia El Arabi

Sofia El Arabi is one of those girls... One of those perfect girls! She's strikingly beautiful, her style is on pint, her instagram feed is like a visual diary of everything I want to experience, and most importantly, after reading this interview, you'll fall in love with her soul. As a writer, I dream of visiting Morocco, her mother land, and walk the souqs, and buy an endless supply of kaftans and eat Bastilla all day long! But as a shopper, I can browse her online shop for days! Her pieces are what we modern girls need, a new vision of our culture, mixing and matching the old with the new, and styling every piece to utter perfection. All that while maintaining a nonchalant demeanor, just like Sofia...

F:Have you always had a passion for fashion?    

S:Mixing Arab and Western culture, it is the story of a whole life of speaking both French, English and Arabic in the same sentence, salivating over both French cheeses and Moroccan Couscous at the same table, wearing blue jeans under traditional Jellabas on Friday Mosque prayers... It is not something I can put into words, more worlds maybe. That how the idea striked me, I wanted a real populat cheering aroud this pluri-arabic identity.

F:

Describe your personal style?

S:Sofia, Moroccan, carrying a name that means wisdom in a spirit oscillating between the one of an old 85-year-old woman and a 5-year-old child inside a 31-year-old body. Which leads us to an average age of 40. Born in Casablanca, raised in an Australian surf life dream. Partisane of minimalist style.

F:

What morning routines are religious for you? 

S:Watch out the first words you say right after you woke up because they are all the core energy that will affect your day. I like my mornings to be quiet, I only like to hear the sounds of my jaws eating my salted-butter and banana toasts.

F:What do you collect and why? 

S:Picture, just like pictures collect instants. It is just fascinating being able to materially have access to these very precise moments true photography, when our memory remains so imperfect.

F:

What’s your detox and retox? 

S:My detox was supposed to be this new sport-proteins diet I am following. But I am so in love with it it’s becoming a retox.

F:Who is your muse? 

S:The Essence above every muse.



F:Image is everything these days, If you don't educate yourself and evolve you'll find yourself out of date or old fashioned, What do you do to keep your style up to date?

S:Always rely on pieces that survived time, it means that they’re already eternal. High-waisted levis, perfectly cut white T etc... 

F:

What is your biggest fashion indulgence this spring? 
S:Hats, hats, hats. Big head. But hats.


 
F:If we got a sneak peak into your wardrobe, what would we find?  
S:Your diagnosis of my wardrobe would be : a serious schizophrenia with a pinch of severe '90 nostalgia.

F:

List 3 items that are always present in your bag? 

S:The survivor kit is ( drum rolls-suspense )
* the red-orange lipstick, perfect when you feel you're not tanned enough, and a perfect reminder of a recent Holiday.

* the hand-cream, for when you don't know how to handle the boredom of the subway
 
* the mint bubble-gum for when you just ate spicy. I am Arab. I always eat spicy.

F:
Do you follow any fashion blogs for inspiration? 
S:Fashion Toast, Man Repeller, and my sister's blog The Tberguig to keep a humorous and ironic eye on daily news.



F:What's the best advice you've received that has kept you going and growing?
S:Live this life like if you were a stranger, a traveler.

Shop Sofia's Collection HERE.