Why the caged bird sings

Karim Adduchi’s fashion collection She Knows Why the Caged Bird Sings is about translating the symbolism and the perception of Berber women and wants to give them a voice.

Multidisciplinary artist and fashion designer Karim Adduchi was born in Imzouren, Morocco, in 1988 and moved to Barcelona when he was seven.

In 2010 he moved to Amsterdam to study at the fashion department of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. Here he graduated with a thesis about his renewed ties to the homeland and his heritage. He took as his subject the tradition of storytelling that Berber women, like his own grandmother, keep alive, yet focused especially on what is not being said aloud in these stories.

“This collection is about translating the symbolism and the perception of these women and wants to give them a voice. There is a strong sense of duality in them; they are fragile and strong at the same time, and they hide their beauty because they deem it so valuable. It takes time and knowledge to unravel that mystery.’’ Explains Adduchi.

She Knows Why the Caged Bird Sings is Adduchi’s graduation collection (the title is a reference to Maya Angelou’s famous novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from 1969) and comprises a series of designs predominantly using traditional handicraft. The materials were not necessarily meant to make garments with: one of the dresses, for example, is partly made of reed‐like material used to make floormats. The gown design is then complemented by a much finer fabric.