Born from Reality
ethnik is all about real encounters and lived experiences.
Our designs are inspired by the people we meet, the places we explore, and the stories that shape Morocco. We value honesty in creation.
Fatima
Our Muse
I first met Fatima years ago, when I was still a teenager. At the time, ethnik didn’t exist. I was in Tahanaout, taking photos, when I met her by chance. Her face and presence stayed with me and later inspired me to start painting Moroccan portraits (long before ethnik became a project)
Seven years later, while shooting for ethnik in Tahanaout, I noticed a donkey that I wanted to photograph for the shoot. Someone told me I had to ask the owner first. I rang the doorbell and Fatima opened the door. It took a moment to realise it was her. Showing her a notebook featuring her portrait, created years after our first meeting, felt unreal. Seeing her and her daughters recognise her story in it closed a circle I never imagined would come full circle. This coincidence, completely unplanned, is at the heart of ethnik: real encounters, time, and stories that find their way back.
Where inspiration begins
Before drawing, there is time spent looking, listening, and understanding.
Inspiration comes from everyday life faces, gestures, landscapes, crafts, and moments.
People
Morocco is shaped by its people. By their generosity, their humour, their way of welcoming you without conditions. Encounters here are rarely distant, they are direct, warm, and full of life. People talk, laugh, invite you in, ask questions, share stories. There is an energy that feels immediate and sincere.
At ethnik, people are never subjects. Every photograph begins with a conversation. Everyone knows why the image is taken, how it will be used, and only after a clear agreement are these photos reused. Consent, respect, and trust are essential. Without them, there is no image.
What inspires me most is the authenticity of these encounters : the laughter, the spontaneity, the strength, the humour, and the generosity that exist even in simple moments. These faces carry stories, dignity, and an incredible sense of presence. ethnik is built on these realities: real people, real connections, and the deep humanity that defines Morocco.
Crafts
Moroccan craftsmanship grows from time, patience, and repetition. It is learned through hands, passed down through generations, observation and shaped by daily practice. Each gesture carries memory, and each object holds the marks of the person who made it.
What gives these crafts their meaning is the work itself. The repetition, the worn tools, the spaces shaped by years of making. ethnik is inspired by this reality where time, care, and experience matter more than speed or perfection.
Watching this way of making has deeply influenced how I create and the values behind ethnik. It taught me the importance of patience, respect, and honesty in the process. The ways of working that go beyond making objects and guide how Ethnik collaborates, creates, and grows.
Processes
At ethnik, process is part of authenticity. How something is made matters as much as what is made. Taking time, questioning, adjusting, and sometimes going back are not steps to optimise because they are choices. This way of working comes from my experience as a Moroccan, where processes are visible, imperfect, and deeply human. Nothing is rushed, nothing is hidden. You see who makes things, how they are made, and over how much time.
Watching these processes, the gestures, the rhythm, the people behind the work has shaped both my values and my inspiration. It taught me to respect time, to value intention over speed, and to let ideas grow through practice. This is how ethnik’s collections are created: inspired by real ways of making, guided by the people, the moments, and the processes that give meaning to each object.
Landscapes
Morocco’s landscapes are marked by contrast and coexistence. Desert and snow, mountains and plains, arid lands and fertile valleys often exist within short distances of each other. It shapes how people move, build, work, and adapt. For me, these landscapes are a constant source of inspiration. They influence my sense of scale, colour, rhythm, and contrast. The way Ethnik’s collections come together is directly shaped by this richness, by the tension between softness and roughness, simplicity and complexity, restraint and abundance. These landscapes ground my vision and continuously feed the way I imagine, draw, and create.
Textures
Morocco is rich in textures on walls shaped by time, on floors worn by passage, in materials exposed to sun, wind, and use. These surfaces are layered, irregular, and deeply tactile. They reveal how repetition, gesture, and time transform simple forms into complex compositions.
These textures strongly influence my creations. They inspire me to rethink traditional geometries in a contemporary way by observing how forms evolve, shift, and break over time. Texture becomes a language through which I simplify, reinterpret, and translate heritage into modern drawings.
Join our community !
Follow us on Instagram and TikTok to discover our world, our process, and the stories behind each creation