RaniPink {Taste of Marrakesh in Germany}
For a moment you may have had to glance up at the header to be sure that you'd landed on the right blog. No, this really isn't Maryam over at My Marrakesh. It's me, Holly. But given all the Moroccan influences in design, I have to share with you a lovely shop that I found recently with the most beautiful ethnic prints and patterns. Ready for another mini store tour? Come along with me for a taste of Marrakesh in Germany.
This shop is called RaniPink and it's located in Hannover where (as most of you know) I just returned after spending two months. Owned by German born Petra Hassan, who grew up in Munich, she married a charming man born in Kuwait with roots in Palestine and now they live and work in Hannover. It is there in north Germany where I had the chance, along with my husband, to meet up in her spacious - the ceilings are maybe 15 ft high - two room store that doubles as her workshop. Petra designs and sews in between customers, creating clothings and interior accessories. She has racks and stacks of jaw dropping textiles that you can select and she'll custom design almost anything you want.
This is Petra, self portrait, obviously. She definitely doesn't dress like the typical German which is one of the many reasons why I like her so much, she doesn't follow the crowd - but follows her heart instead. I love her leg warmers!
To keep her shop fresh and interesting, Petra paints the walls a new and exciting color a few times per year. When I was there, it was turquoise. Now it's violet. Inspired by the Moroccan design in a very big way, and I must add long before it was so "mainstream", her store is like stepping into Marrakesh without having to purchase a plane ticket. When we met with her, we were greeted with a feast for all the senses, beautiful music from North Africa, a warm hug and smile, the scent of spices, and the most delicious Moroccan fresh mint tea I'd ever tasted.
Petra is a fashion and accessories designer, her work is intricate and beautiful, colorful and full of the passion that seems to run from her heart, through the needle, and into the fabrics she sews together. She loves her work, I mean genuinely loves it, and it shows as you stroll through her shop/atelier. You can feel it as you look around. There's this very positive energy in the air, it's great. I left feeling completely motivated to work on some of my own projects, which is always a sure sign that I'd been in good company.
Petra was on her way to Marrakesh for vacation when we met up, but she is back in Hannover now with lots of pretty things collected from her trip - like these supple leather beaded slippers. You have to visit her store if you live in this part of the world - it's so transporting, colorful, and inviting.
Has Petra always loved ethnic design? Yes, and there's proof on her workshop table where she keeps hundreds of sequins, spools of thread, tassels, and gorgeous beads, some that have many years of history with her. She pointed to beads that she's had since childhood - that's how long she's be fascinated with faraway places and beautiful things. This lady truly follows her heart and is doing what she loves. Now how inspiring is that?
Petra thank you so much for sending these beautiful images, sharing tea with Thorsten and I, and for being the special lady that you are.
RaniPink Store -- Oeltzenstr. 2 -- Hannover, Germany -- Tel. 0511-3746711
(images from petra hassan)