dwell: AphroChic Founders Bryan Mason and Jeanine Hays’s Quick, Crafty Trip to Marrakech, Morocco
Bryan Mason and Jeanine Hays, the husband-wife duo behind AphroChic—a media and interior design brand born from their 2007 blog celebrating Black design and style—and authors of AphroChic: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Family Home (released in November), traveled across the Atlantic from their Brooklyn home to the ancient city of Marrakech for a friend’s wedding a few years ago. "The wedding was held in the desert about a two-hour ride from the medina [a non-European quarter in many Northern African cities]," says Hays. For a couple of aesthetes, tacking on a few extra days in the Moroccan city known for its traditional crafts like pottery, woven textiles, mosaics, leatherwork, and metalwork was an easy decision.
"There are few places in the world as intriguing and historical as Marrakech, even a brief visit will stay with you for a lifetime," says Mason. His advice? "Give yourself some time to walk around the outside of the city. Let yourself touch the walls and feel the history. Marrakech is a trip with so much to offer, you’ll thank yourself for taking it." Here, Mason and Hays share how the design lovers made the most out of just a few days in Marrakech—and the traditional drink visitors should never say "no" to.