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For Oumayma Boumeshouli, inspiring people is what her platform is about. The Moroccan Instagramer and blogger, living in Amsterdam, Netherlands, has been around for five years, styling, posting photos and working for each and every clothing brand young girls like to buy these days. On the phone, Oumayma, was proud to introduce her world, express her love for her Moroccan heritage and share her experience in the fashion industry.
«I am an Instagramer, this how they call us these days», Oumayma told Yabiladi. «I started a blog in 2012 to share on the Internet my outfit ideas and a lot of people liked what I was doing», recalled the 22-year-old fashion girl. Instagram was a good start for Oumayma, who managed to attract attention on the photo-sharing application with her chic yet simple style. «On Instagram I gained a lot of followers and many brands used to contact me to collaborate and style their clothing pieces», said Oumayma.
«I actually started posting photos because I wanted to become a stylist and hopefully one day I will go to a big magazine, bring my portfolio, and show them all the work I did during these years».
Indeed, the ambitious Oumayma has come a long way since her first Instagram post. In fact, the Amsterdam-native is working with fashion brands in Europe and in the rest of the world, shooting for them, and styling their clothing items. «I am working with amazing brands such Tommy Hilfiger, Moncler, and Balenciaga».
Styling for big brands
Explaining how work is done for her, Oumayma stated that she has «two kinds of work days», a day dedicated for shooting and another for office work. «When I am at the office, I write collaboration proposals to brands that I am interested in working with. First, the brand selects the items they want me to use, they send them and then I decide how I want to wear style them», she told Yabiladi.
Styling means traveling and that is what Oumayma does every time she is collaborating with a fashion brand. «This month I am traveling to Marrakech where I am expected to shoot an entire look book for ten outfits for a brand and publish them in the upcoming two weeks», she said.
Before working as a full-time instagramer, Oumayma used to go to school for communication studies. She quit school after realizing that fashion is the only thing she wanted to do in life. «It was the best decision I have ever made in my entire life» said Oumayma who was pressured by her parents at the beginning.
«My parents were really harsh on me when I first told them that I wanted to leave school. At the end, I just asked them to trust me and believe in what I do and it turned out to be a very fruitful step».
Moroccan roots
Indeed, Oumayma now is making a living out of her hobby. She has a small company with employees that help her carry her dream of becoming a stylist. «A few months ago, I started a page dedicated to my styling. I am doing creative direction there, dressing models for different brands», said Oumayma who sees this platform as a plan B for her career in the fashion industry.
Oumayma who was featured this month on the cover of Vogue Arabia, is determined to represent her Moroccan origins. In her look books she tries to feature Moroccan items such as Jellaba, and Belgha. «We are super important in the fashion industry and a lot of international designers come to Morocco and get inspired by our traditions. For instance, every big designer has a caftan in their collection and I want to be part of that too».
