Fashion Magazines are becoming predominant in the Arab Muslim World generally, and in Morocco particularly. In the case of Morocco, women have been interested in reading a different kind of magazines as a necessary means of entertainment to satisfy their own needs, and therefore being regarded as a source of consumerism as they are local, affordable to buy.
As Lela Fatima’s cover image defines itself, the explicit signs that are shown symbolize traditional family values and customs when it comes to the Moroccan Kaftan worn by celebrities, including models and actresses; the latter is seen as a weapon used not only to mean ‘’ one-piece dress’’, but also to represent Moroccan Fashion to other different populations as a whole.
Such magazines tend make a social change in one’s life, bringing people the opportunity to discover the clothing style of the 1990s that had a profound influence on Fashion and continues to be a strong impact on nowadays Fashion.
Further, we as viewers can realize the extent to which the cover image of Lela Fatima magazine demonstrates other implicit references such as modernized tradition, the beauty of Moroccan woman, considering her independence, as well as infusing people with contemporary Fashion whose purpose stands for promoting and advertising those items displayed as a purpose of selling in the short term.
Besides, Lela Fatima’s Magazine often creates a dependency on what is referred to as ‘’ Middle East Connection’’; i.e. there is a manifest of Arab and Turkish pop culture as both countries have decided to collaborate on the production of various clothing styles featured with tendency and attraction for the sake of achieving profitability, as well as reaching a remarkable advance in the Arab common market through digging people’s interest into the realm of Fashion, taking into account the presence of conservative touch as most of women are reticent about adopting their dressing style, symbolizing conditioned liberation as they support the following idea ‘’ one’s appearance conditions should be taken into account whenever dressing up in public ‘’, unlike the magazines, so-named, ‘’ Les Femmes du ‘’Maroc’’, or ‘’Citadine’’ whose main objective lies in depicting photographs in which models resort to expressing themselves freely in the public sphere and producing a sense of femininity to respond to the contemporary level of modernity .
Thus, it seems reasonable to assume that Moroccan Fashion Magazines are viewed as a site of knowledge where both – the language of modernity (Liberal Fashion) and Tradition (Conservative Fashion) meet in complex ways, being consumed by whom is interested in.
By Nouhaila El Bouhli
