How a backpacking holiday in Marrakech inspired a lifestyle brand
- Hongkonger Tiffany Chan was unsure what to expect when she visited Morocco
- When she found an artisan making embroidered sandals called babouches it sparked an idea for a business selling the handmade footwear
Last year Tiffany Chan Hiu-yung quit her job as the editor of a food magazine and decided to travel for a year. She went to places like Italy, Nepal, Australia and Canada to recharge and challenge herself, travelling with only a backpack, and even lived in a van for a month in New Zealand with a woman she met on the plane.
In September in Marrakech, Morocco, Chan, 29, was entranced by the souks, or open-air markets where she met many artisans, not necessarily offering their products for sale but also whatever was on their stove in the shop, from tagine to mint tea.
“Before I got there I was scared to go because I had heard it can be unsafe for a solo female traveller, but when I arrived everyone was so hospitable and generous,” she says. “They invited me to literally break bread with them, and one time I had tea with a stranger, talking for five hours.”
She noticed shoemakers making traditional shoes called babouches, colourful embroidered sandals, but wanted something more practical and found a shoemaker who was producing more modern designs.
He catered to her request to change the quality of the leather and modify the design to her specifications, and soon she found herself asking if he would make 50 or 100 pairs.