For its Fall/Winter 2024 collection titled “Venus as a Boy”, Casablanca was inspired by ancient Greece. This collection is about reimagination, not only of the past, but also of the present.
The name of the collection comes from a song by Bjork, which itself reimagines the idea of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, who was originally based on the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Venus as a Boy becomes a metaphor for the essence of the collection, as well as a reflection of the personal philosophy of Charaf Tajer, the founder and creative director of Casablanca.
By playing with the ideas of time, re-contextualization, and the interplay of history and the contemporary, Casablanca’s new collection draws its primary inspiration from the mysterious and transformative Eleusinian Mysteries. These were secretive rites that took place in the ancient Greek city of Eleusis, near Athens, and attracted some of the most influential figures of that time, such as Plato, Aristotle, Herodotus, Sophocles, and Euripides. The participants of these rites experienced mind-expanding visions and revelations, facilitated by psychedelics like LSD and mushrooms.
Casablanca shares a similar philosophy of using psychedelics to enhance creativity and communicate ideas through its collections. Tajer and Steve Grimes, the art director of Casablanca, have always been fascinated by ancient Greece, and its holistic vision of art, architecture, philosophy, and society. They wanted to express this vision in a collection dedicated to ancient Greece, but not in a way that merely replicates the past, but rather in a way that highlights its enduring relevance and sophistication.
Through the combination of philosophy, architecture, and sports, along with Casablanca’s distinctive idealistic and psychedelic identity, the collection becomes a captivating mosaic, illustrating the timeless connection between the past and the present. What may seem ancient reveals itself as a source of wisdom and elegance, creating a visual and conceptual bridge that illuminates the continuous thread of ideas and societal evolution.
Check out the collection below:
