Yves Saint Laurent and Marrakech: The Ochre City That "Taught Colors" to the Fashion Designer

Arriving for the first time in 1966, Yves Saint Laurent initially endured four days of torrential rains before being captivated by the local light. This aesthetic revelation led him to visit the city twice a year to design his collections until his death in 2008, affirming that Marrakech had "opened him up to color".

The museum dedicated to the fashion designer, inaugurated in 2017, celebrates forty years of haute couture in a setting of terracotta bricks. The building, whose striking curves reflect the designer’s style and the brick lattice evokes fabric weaving, houses a permanent exhibition where the muted black contrasts with the brilliance of the outdoor sun.

According to The Irish Times, the history of the city is embodied in the 77-meter-high minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque. A true symbol of Marrakech - which means "Land of God" in the Berber language - the 12th-century building still bears the scars of the 2023 earthquake, despite its pale green tile ornaments. Tourism and cultural influence of Marrakech by 2030

Morocco now aims to attract 26 million tourists per year by 2030, after surpassing Egypt in 2024. Co-organizer of the World Cup with Spain and Portugal, the country is banking on its polyphonic culture, blending the effervescence of the Kasbah with the ancestral chants of Gnawa music accompanied by the guembri.

At the heart of the medina, Berber pharmacies display bags of hibiscus and rosemary alongside kaleidoscopic spices such as saffron and turmeric. This sensory richness extends to the Jamaa El Fna square, a millennia-old theater inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, where acrobats, henna tattooists and sellers of traditional harira coexist.

The journey ends at the Jardin Majorelle, a botanical sanctuary bought by Saint Laurent in 1980 to preserve its iconic cobalt and ultramarine blue. It is here, among more than 300 plant species and the Art Deco fountains, that the designer’s ashes were scattered, sealing his eternal union with what he considered his paradise.