Algeria’s fashion sense is very poor although the country is rich in cultures, their everyday casual wear is very similar. For women; you can see them copying the Europeans and matching the weather by wearing clothes like pants, shirts, or jackets; they also wear dresses or Abaya. Their main reason to buy any piece of clothing depends on the region’s weather and nothing extra or edgy to try. Society is also a significant factor in holding back their taste for fashion because conservative Algerians' opinions about the way their son, daughter, or neighbors dress influence the whole society, especially in small towns. Plus, poverty plays a major role, as women with a good taste in fashion, would wear anything fake and cheap.
In this regard, this interview is conducted with Ibtissam Moussar, an Algerian model, who has a high sense for fashion that blends modern and traditional styles; in order to know how a women’s personality would shape her style taste; also to find out where fashion is taking a place nowadays.
What can you tell us about yourself?
My name is Ibtissam Moussar I was born in 1994 an Algerian model and also an Instagram influencer, who posts fashion content that mixes traditional Algerian dressing with modern fashion.
What do you want to portray through your Instagram page?
Empowering Algerian women through fashion.
Do you see yourself as an influencer? Otherwise, who are you?
Yes, I see myself as an influencer and I am a woman who takes her strength from a heritage.
When did you realize that your purpose behind this, is you want to empower Algerian women through fashion? How did it start?
About 6 years ago, I was trying to mix clothes with my grandmother’s clothes, my mother’s, and even my father’s. I felt a kind of strength and love, so I wanted to do this thing to share this feeling with the Algerian women.
What or who inspires you in your life?
My grandma and my mother, of course, the way she dresses and her powerful words.
Who is your audience? In the sense of who do you want your page to reach?
People who are interested in fashion, traditions, and art.
In your photo shoots, you have such a beautiful look along with unique pieces of clothing and special cultural backgrounds behind you. What can you tell us about that? How do you build that outstanding scene?
Thank you I appreciate it. Well I love the mood of old and new things, as I said earlier about clothes, same with places, it’s not just about outfits, also places have great importance I always try to express my own vision and present it in a beautiful way.
We see your affection for the old Raï music on your Instagram page. What does Raï mean to you? And does it contribute to shaping your character?
YES!! of course, part of me is RAÏ.
Raï music has such an influence on me; it made me, experience and live some emotions profoundly. For example, in Cheb Hasni music you don’t have to be in love or a lover to listen to him, for me it’s the other way around, when you listen to his music you become a lover and start experiencing those love feelings. So it takes you to a side that you haven’t lived yet.
Without Raï music, I would not have known what it is like to feel love, pain, death, sacrifice, separation, neutrality, and emigration from one’s homeland. It made me feel those emotions deeply without experiencing some of them in my actual life.
Do you consider your work of modeling personally? is it self-expression?
Everything I do and the stages I have been through are expressed within me. Every photo I took has a story behind it.
What does “ the Algerian woman” mean to you? How do you describe her?
Life, love, power, courageousness, sacrifice, beauty, and art.
Living in a masculine society, how does your surrounding society feel about your work? Supporting? Discouraging?
So far I found support from all sexes I do what I love and I will not let anything that affects me.
Do you get any negative criticism on your Instagram page? How do you handle them?
No Alhamdulillah! In case that happened, I will ignore it in a very sporting spirit.
Do you see yourself making a career through your unique modeling?
Yes! The road is long, but I hope to get there.
Do you have any upcoming events or shootings that you would like to share with us?
There are some things we have to work on, but unfortunately, we couldn’t disclose them at the moment.
