Zara

March 2018 | Willem de Kooning Academy

"Zara is the place where gays and Moroccans come together." In Mocro x Homo I have taken the neck bag (nektasje) as a product to make the two groups aware of their mindless consume behavior. The two groups have prejudices about each other and avoid contact. This while they walk around and buy products in the same store.

The neck bag is a stereotypical bag that is mainly worn by Moroccans.
Since the Fanny-pack hype, neck bags are also worn by homosexuals.

For Zara I designed a transparent bag. So the identity of the person is exposed
and the common sides of these two groups are also exposed. The transparency is
an invitation to interact more with each other, to engage in conversation and to look
at the identities instead of ethnic background or choice in sexuality.

“I had a boy in my class who had exactly this bag and content.
He had an old Nokia, deodorant, he had always gel in his hair. He had always notes of 50. It is funny
how this is exactly the same. Your stereotypical description of “bad Moroccans”
is actually realistic.” – Nabel

Credits

Photography: Khalid Amakran
Models: Nabel A., Sam Dooby, Kasper