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The fact that she lives in France has not affected her links to her hometown. Noussaiba Essatte has not forgotten about her attachment to Taounate, where she grew up and where she hopes to participate in local development initiatives «as much as possible».
Before settling in Paris, the young Moroccan, born in 1992, lived in Turkey in 2011, to study international relations. She has lived in France since 2016, where she joined her husband. In France, Noussaiba got a job in social work, until the summer of 2019, when she decided to resign.
She told Yabiladi that she decided to launch a project that is close to her heart, in the field of fashion. «I ended my previous activity, because I no longer wanted to work as an employee», she explained, also referring to the «many problems that many veiled women in France face» at work, although she has not experienced it personally.
Taounate's window on the world, despite confinement
In December 2019, Noussaiba set up her project, which started effectively in March 2020. «I was in Morocco for a vacation week and it coincided with the start of the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic in the country. The borders were closed, which forced me to stay in Taounate but I took advantage of it. This gave me the opportunity to work more on the project, to get closer to the team, to set up a business plan and to start delivering customer orders, which is a very rare occurrence in Taounate», she proudly said.
«My mother, who lives in Taounate, works in the sewing industry.Since we're in a small town, her business hasn't grown much.She thought of developing her project, so that our products may cross borders.So, we decided to specialize in traditional clothing and give it a modern touch».
Although the novel coronavirus pandemic has impacted all economic sectors, Noussaiba's project has show resilience. It indeed made significant sales during the confinement period. The businesswoman's mother helps her manage the project, which employs 30 people, while taking care of every little details. She also supervises the marketing of products outside Morocco.
Noussaiba stresses that the demand for traditional clothes in the city of Taounate generally only increases during the holiday season, which gives this line of work an almost seasonal aspect. «I wanted to mix the traditional and the modern aspects, in order to guarantee the work team a source of income throughout the year», she explained.
«Many peoplecannot locate the city of Taounate on a map, which is why I wanted to make it better known in order to extricate it from marginalization, through the clothes we offer.The main objective is for the city to open up to the world.This is why all our products are labeled 'Made in Taounate'».
From a local brand to a growing, international one
But Noussaiba does not promote her project in Taounate or Paris only. In a real effort to prospect new leads, she travels through the cities of Morocco to market the clothes she designs, «for advertising purposes, I wear these clothes myself and I take a picture of myself in the middle of the picturesque landscapes of Taounate», she explained.
Its brand, called «Nooussail», receives consistently increasing orders throughout Morocco, in various European countries, in Canada as well as in the United States. Today, Noussaiba is proud that her dream of establishing a project in her hometown has become a reality. She is equally satisfied to have found her place in the fashion world, even though her business has yet to complete its first year.
