Sahrazad, bringing Moroccan heritage to Lagos Fashion Week
Founded by Moroccan designer Scheherazade Essrhir, SAHRAZAD carries traditional craftsmanship onto international runways, connecting cultural heritage with a personal journey of identity, growth and creative freedom.
For Moroccan designer Scheherazade Essrhir, fashion is about more than creating garments. It is a way of honouring the past, preserving craftsmanship and expressing the experiences that shape who we become.
Founded in 2020, her fashion brand SAHRAZAD was born from a promise to her late father and a desire to carry Moroccan heritage forward. Following the presentation of SAHRAZAD REBORN at Lagos Fashion Week in 2025, she returns in 2026 with INNER CHILD, a collection that brings a deeply personal dimension to her creative work.
The story of SAHRAZAD begins in 2015, when Scheherazade's father was diagnosed with cancer. During their last conversation, he asked her to promise that she would always be happy and continue pursuing her dreams.
At the time, creating her own fashion brand was one of those dreams. A few years later, that promise became the foundation of SAHRAZAD.
For Scheherazade, the brand has always represented something greater than a professional ambition. It is a commitment to her father and a reminder of the determination that continues to guide her through the challenges of building a creative business.
What began as a personal promise gradually became a space where her Moroccan identity, creative vision and personal story could come together.
At the heart of SAHRAZAD is a philosophy that challenges a familiar approach to traditional fashion. Scheherazade does not believe Moroccan heritage needs to be modernised to remain relevant. Instead, she sees her role as a designer as one of continuity, carrying forward the materials, techniques and knowledge that have shaped Moroccan craftsmanship across generations.
For her, these traditions already hold cultural and artistic value. Their relevance does not depend on being transformed into something entirely new.
"Tradition is not something that belongs only to the past. It is something we inherit, live with and have a responsibility to pass on."
Through SAHRAZAD, she brings traditional craftsmanship into contemporary wardrobes while respecting its origins and the people who preserve it. Rather than reinventing Moroccan identity, her creations build upon an existing cultural language, allowing it to remain part of how people dress and express themselves today.
The artisans working alongside Scheherazade are central to this vision. Their experience and technical knowledge allow her ideas to move from imagination into physical garments, but their influence extends beyond production.
Working with them has shaped her understanding of creativity, teaching her the importance of patience, humility, dedication and respect for the process.
"For me, craftsmanship is not simply a technique; it is a living heritage carried by human hands."
This belief informs her approach to preserving traditional techniques. The knowledge artisans hold has been transmitted across generations, and Scheherazade considers recognising and protecting that expertise an essential responsibility.
Within SAHRAZAD, the artisans are not simply the people producing the designs. Their knowledge, time and skills form an inseparable part of the story behind each creation.
In 2025, Scheherazade presented SAHRAZAD REBORN at Lagos Fashion Week, introducing her vision of Moroccan craftsmanship and cultural identity to audiences within the wider African fashion scene.
The experience marked an important chapter in her journey, both creatively and personally. Through the relationships she developed and the exchanges she experienced, Lagos Fashion Week became a space for artistic growth and a deeper understanding of her place within African fashion.
For Scheherazade, the strength of this creative landscape lies in its diversity. Across the continent, designers bring different histories, traditions and artistic languages into conversation. Her participation reinforced the idea that being part of a wider African creative movement does not require setting aside the identity that makes her work distinct.
"Lagos Fashion Week has helped me understand that my identity as a Moroccan designer is not something that separates me from the wider African creative scene; it is what I bring to it."
This perspective has become an important part of her journey, allowing SAHRAZAD to connect with other creative communities while remaining rooted in Moroccan heritage.
As Scheherazade returns to Lagos Fashion Week in 2026, her new collection, INNER CHILD, reflects a different stage of her artistic and personal evolution.
Since founding SAHRAZAD in 2020, she has experienced a process of self-discovery that has gradually transformed her relationship with fashion. The collection draws on her journey of reconnecting with her younger self, making peace with parts of her past and finding greater freedom in how she expresses her identity.
That personal growth has also influenced her creative approach. Today, she feels more comfortable experimenting, embracing her individuality and allowing her designs to reflect the person she has become.
While Moroccan heritage remains a foundation of SAHRAZAD, INNER CHILD introduces another layer to its story, one shaped by healing, self-acceptance and the courage to create without conforming to expectations.
For Scheherazade, the collection represents more than another runway presentation. It reflects the evolution of both the designer and the woman behind the brand.
From a promise made in 2015 to the international presentation of her collections, Scheherazade's journey has been shaped by the relationship between personal identity and cultural inheritance.
Through SAHRAZAD, traditional craftsmanship becomes a way of honouring generations of knowledge, while fashion provides space for her own experiences and artistic expression.
"Today, SAHRAZAD is not only a reflection of my heritage; it is also a reflection of my growth, my healing and my freedom."
Her return to Lagos Fashion Week with INNER CHILD brings these two dimensions together, showing how Moroccan heritage can be carried forward while leaving room for the personal stories and evolving identities of those who inherit it.

Photo :  @medigraphy
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