‘Apres-Sport’ Men’s Wear Label Casablanca Sets Maxfield Pop-up During Coachella

Festival season is nigh, and the brand collaborations are starting to roll out just in time for Coachella starting this weekend.

Virgil Abloh-approved, apres-sport men’s wear label Casablanca, founded by French Moroccan creative director Charaf Tajer, is partnering with L.A. luxury boutique Maxfield on a capsule collection and experiential pop-up from April 10 to 25, to coincide with the Coachella Art and Music Festival, which will be headlined by Childish Gambino, Tame Impala and Ariana Grande, as well as feature such fashion-adjacent talent as Abloh, Jaden Smith and Kanye West.

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For the pop-up at the Melrose Avenue boutique, Tajer is turning the Maxfield parking lot into an interactive, immersive tennis court where the 17-piece collection will be displayed. Pieces range in price from $150 to $700 and will include button-down silk shirt and shorts sets, caps and Ts with imagery that could have been lifted from the desert orange groves near Indio’s Empire Polo Grounds, where Coachella takes place.

“I have always wanted to work with Maxfield on something special, as it has always been a very important store to me in their curation of fashion,” said Tajer, who studied architecture and worked at the French brand Pigalle, as well as running the Parisian nightclub Le Pompon before becoming an Abloh collaborator, and eventually launching his own brand in 2018 with a first collection titled “Casablanca Tennis Club.”

“We discussed Coachella being a great time to join forces, as it’s a great symbol of music and fashion coming together. I have been to the festival several times and it’s one of very few festivals that really encapsulates where we are culturally. A music festival in the desert is a great way to enjoy wearing Casablanca’s silk pieces.”

While some may think Coachella fashion is played out (flower crowns, body glitter and all that), Tajer is not one of them. He’s been to the festival a number of times and still finds it inspiring, especially for men’s wear: “The diverse musical programming has created a spirit that drives people to push boundaries with their style.”

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