Thursday, April 27, 2006

Brand Morocco?

Morocco is so much in vogue at the moment that the unwary consumer is likely to buy the latest "Moroccan " design only to discover later that the item has little or nothing to do with Morocco. I was recently interested to search out some Moroccan earrings and necklaces and found that around 75% of the products had little or no Moroccan content.

A case in point is the work of Carmen Salerno from Rio and her brand "Annbar". According to her advertising, Brazilian designer, Salerno, finds in Morocco the inspiration for creation of her necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets. Carmen, who lives in the city of Niterói, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, produces semi-jewels that reproduce the Moroccan style and have raw materials imported from the Arab country. The products made by Salermo have clasps and details in Moroccan silver, famous for its pureness. They are sold under brand Annbar. In Arabic, anbar is a perfume essence.

One of her press releases claims... "The Moroccan style is present in the semi-jewels produced by designer Carmem Salerno, from Rio de Janeiro. The businesswoman makes necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings under brand Annbar. Some of the products also include Moroccan silver."
"Moroccan" necklace produced out of Indian bone and Moroccan silver

It all began with the designer's passion for Oriental culture, especially the Moroccan. "On my wrist I have a moon and a star (tattooed), the sitting room in my house has Moroccan design," stated Carmen. The businesswoman, however, is not Muslim and is not of Arab descent.

The Moroccan silver used in the products is imported from a trading company in Los Angeles, in the United States. Apart from raw material, the exoticness of Morocco is in the products. The designer travelled to the Arab country around four years ago to learn more about the local culture. "I spent 15 days researching and was enchanted," she said.

Maybe I am being a little bitchy, but perhaps she needed a few more days in Morocco?


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

hey I found ur site when doing research on this same "designer"...I think you have a point and ur not being bitchy at all :) I enjoyed reading your thoughts.