Cafttan Nawaim Almaghribi

The kaftan or caftan is a simple garment that has been worn for thousands of years by both men and women. This dress first appeared in the Persian empire era. It was worn by the army in the battles under the military suit as a protective silky dress .As NilooPaydar, who is curator of textile and fashion arts at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, mentions that the Kaftan has become a theme of civilization in Persian literature in the 600 years before the birth of Christ, as the Persian poet Ferdowsi cited in the book "Shahnameh" or "Book of Kings" . Then the dress moved to other social classes in Persia, since that time it has seen many changes through ages because of the development which the fashion world knew with the diversity of cultures, customs and religions. As a result of the Ottoman conquest and the colonial expansion in Africa, Kaftan entered into the Muslim Western areas, and to some European countries . In the 8th century, for instance, Europe changed the shape of the Kaftan to be more open from the front, this was called ‘’Banyan’’. With the increase in the European-African communication in the twentieth century, some French designers were inspired by some Moroccan and Algerian caftans in designing soiree dresses for European women such as Paul Poiret . The main reasons behind the entry of Kaftans to Morocco were the fall of Granada in Andalusia and the exodus of Muslims to Morocco, which leads the Kaftan to become an authentic Moroccan women dress which represents a symbol of beauty and elegance . Additionally, The Moroccan brides wear the Kaftan in their weddings and other ceremonies . Moreover, with the development of the fashion trends and the interest of the Moroccan fashion designers to convey with this development, the Moroccan Kaftan has gone through a lot of different changes and included many new shapes and styles existing many years ago until the present day.