Blind Magazine: Hassan Hajjaj’s Colorful Cabinet of Rock Stars and Fashionistas

Hailing from the fishing town of Larache on the northwest coast of Morocco, photographer Hassan Hajjaj was born in 1961 - just five years after the country achieved independence. Throughout the '60s, the African Independence Movement swept the continent, restoring a feeling of pride to the peoples whose lives and land had been unjustly usurped by foreign imperialists. A new generation of photographers including Malick Sidibé, Samuel Fosso, and Sanle Sory chronicled the spirit of celebration that filled the air, creating portraits that captured the first flush of freedom as it spread far and wide. 

Long before digital technology democratized photography, Hajjaj recalled his youth as, "There were hardly any cameras around then. In my town when I was growing up there were three types of photographers. The first was the studio photographer where people would have their family portraits made. I remember going with my Mum and my sisters, wearing our very best. Dad was living in England from the '60s, so every couple of years we would go out, do a picture and send it to him. I remember that studio very well with the lighting, the backdrop, the seat. This was a big influence on me."

The other photographers worked the streets and the beach, making portraits of people who wanted to preserve these fleeting moments of joy and fun in casual settings. "They would give you a piece of paper, and a few days later you'd get a small print," Hajjaj says of the itinerant photographers who provided the community with lasting scenes of happiness. These encounters left a memorable impression on Hajjaj that stayed with him throughout his life. 

Hip Hop Is Something You Live

In 1973, at age 12, the Hajjaj family moved to London to join his father, a laborer, at a time when the sparkle of Swinging London was fading away. But with the arrival of immigrants from around the globe, the seeds of a new underground culture fueled by diasporic influences were firmly taking root. In 1984, Hajjaj opened R.A.P., a store dedicated to streetwear before it even had a name, in Covent Garden, the heart of London's burgeoning bohemian culture.

"The big brands didn't design for us so we used to make t-shirts that said 'Chanel No. 5 for Gucci' or buy a piece of fabric and sew it on the back of a jean jacket," Hajjaj says. Like Dapper Dan, the legendary Harlem haberdasher who designed custom looks for '80s Hip Hop icons like Salt 'N' Pepa, Eric B. and Rakim, and LL Cool J, Hajjaj understood cross-cultural appeal of luxury brands remade with an eye for street cool. "One of the nicest compliments I had came from Fab 5 Freddy of Yo! MTV Raps," Hajjaj remembers of the legendary New York artist and TV host that introduced rap music when it was still underground to the mainstream. "Fred came to the store and he understood it; he saw what I was trying to express - a Moroccan/Arabic/Muslim feeling of that of what he saw in Hip Hop and street style."