The Scandinavian-Moroccan designer is someone who truly believes in the power of fashion as a conduit for social messaging
Anwar Bougroug was predestined to become a designer. He grew up, quite literally, making his own clothes, fully immersed in the rich artisanal traditions of his native Morocco. "We used to go there for summers and my family and I, we would all create, we would make clothes, we would meet artisans, we would make furniture," he explains. "Those trips were always so inspirational to me."
The designer (named one of Forbes' 30 under 30 in 2020) was born and raised in Oslo, and is now the founder and creative director of Bougroug, the genderless lifestyle and ready-to-wear brand which bears his name. It was a no-brainer for the design graduate that he would do this (he began saving for his company when he was seventeen) and that his creations would be steeped in Moroccan traditions.
"Not only did I know I wanted to make my designs there, with these craftspeople and ancient practices, I wanted to use our stories," he explains. "I had no idea how much people would relate to it. It was diaspora kids, people in Norway and Morocco and all over the world, people like, 'Oh, this is my country', or 'this is my neighbour country', or like, 'my mom is from this country…' – everyone had this connection to it and that really moved me, that our storytelling had that effect."
Photo: Bougroug
Photo: Bougroug
To Anwar, Bougroug is more than just the sum of its beautifully crafted pieces. He is that breed of designer who believes in the power of fashion as a conduit for social messaging, as an expression of identity and creativity and an open-armed embrace of inclusivity. "I think as much as it represents Morocco, it also represents this international world that we're living in right now, where we can have so many identities," he says. "I think that's really what captured people. We’re creating loving and inclusive communities that are building bridges, rather than tearing them down."
The complexity of identities, the notion of holding space for so many things at once, is channelled through the brand’s deft handling of bougroug’s own duality – his Moroccan roots and Scandinavian upbringing. "It’s a superpower for sure," he says, of carrying more than one national identity. "It gives you a sense of empathy that can be missing in the world.
Photo: Bougroug
The brand fully straddles a Scandinavian and Moroccan aesthetic – two cultures which have more in common than one might initially think. "There are surprisingly similar codes in North African and Northern European dressing," Bougroug says. "Modest clothing is a unifier – I mean, just look how many people here in Norway love layering; long shirts, oversized things. And it's the same way people in Morocco dress. They have similar values too – a love of travel and adventure and being out in nature, being connected to the earth."
It explains why bougroug has made sustainability one of its central tenets. "For a lot of young brands, sustainability is part of it right from the beginning, and we're one of those brands that, wherever there's a possibility to be sustainable, that’s an easy choice for us," he declares. "For example, we only work with natural fibres, from the same region as the factories – we don't import. The packaging has to be recyclable and we're keeping it small, working directly with artisans. We control our value chain, we control every step, we can say, 'we don't want to do too much of this', we don't over produce. So, we're lucky because we built this into the brand. We would like to be fully sustainable by 2025 or 2026."
Photo: Bougroug
Another no-brainer for the brand was making it genderless. Anwar is passionate about making fashion accessible to everyone – every body type and gender identity. "I want this brand to be an open universe people can feel included in, where and they feel that they there's not too many brackets and boxes," he says. Subverting traditional expectations of gender roles, for example, has long been his inspiration, thanks to coming from what he describes as a ‘matriarchal’ family and growing up in Norway where "like every prime minister is female!"
"For me, it’s the most natural thing ever to build female empowerment in, to work with incredible women," he says, of the innumerable Moroccan women creating for bougroug. "Many of our most skilled artisans are women and pushing them forward in a patriarchal society like Morocco is super important to me."
Our conversation turns to the women currently bravely fighting in Iran. "It affects me so much. For a lot of the Arab world, that is shocking for us, what is happening there," he says. "I hope real change actually happens."
Photo: Bougroug
Photo: Bougroug
We return to Anwar's dedication to the notion that fashion can be a force for change. He discusses how his genderless, inclusive approach – both in the clothes and behind the scenes – is crucial for challenging toxic masculinity in Morocco and how targeting the younger, progressive generations is how he sees a lot of positive movement on these issues. His work with younger generations extends to his incredible mentorship programme with young artists in the Middle East and North Africa, which he talks about passionately. "Just to have that kind of dialogue with young people and what they could do with their careers is incredible," he says.
But there is a lot that enthuses Anwar, a man still at the beginning of a hugely exciting journey for a brand he has deservedly high expectations for. He wants to create more structure, he wants to expand, become more sustainable, to have a grand show in Marrakech. But above all, for an artist whose life was transformed through the power of creating as a young boy, he wants to make a change.