Marouane and the World of Ouuma
The studio does not immediately explain itself.
Objects rest where they have landed. References overlap. Nothing appears staged, yet everything feels intentional.
Marouane B. Belfort speaks about Ouuma in a way that resists the language of brands.
TANN:
Who are you, and what is Ouuma from your own perspective?
Marouane B. Belfort:
Ouuma is a jewellery and clothing brand. My name is Marouane.
Ouuma is essentially a blueprint of my own experiences and capabilities. Many elements reflect my cultural background, but also my professional trajectory, particularly architecture and publishing within art and culture.
TANN:
Ouuma rarely behaves like a conventional label. It feels closer to a world, something atmospheric rather than commercial.
Was that always the intention?
MBB:
It developed over time. In the beginning there was only a ring. Gradually more pieces emerged, almost in parallel with my own expanding interests. Each piece can be understood conceptually and individually. There are entire volumes of stories behind single objects.
Together they form a world situated somewhere between Europe and North Africa, both spatially and temporally. Ouuma is, in many ways, a narrative construct and a cultural bridge.
TANN:
Ouuma appears both highly precise and deeply intuitive. How do you personally navigate between control and instinct?
MBB:
Instinct first. Then control. Then execution. Control defines the framework of the larger story. Instinct is simply the gut feeling.
TANN:
Every world has an origin story. What was the true starting point of Ouuma?
MBB:
A ring I had made for myself in the Medina of Tunis.
Curiosity and a fascination with creating and developing things carried everything forward from there.
TANN:
Do ideas or materials come first?
MBB:
An idea of the object.
TANN:
How strongly do materials influence your decisions?
MBB:
They enter in the second phase of the creative process.
TANN:
Do you reject things even if they are objectively good?
MBB:
Constantly.
TANN:
Ouuma seems relatively detached from trends and seasonal noise.
Is this distance deliberate?
MBB:
Unconscious rather than deliberate.
If a trend resonates with me and I feel it offers genuine value and durability, then why not?
TANN:
The notion of timelessness frequently circulates within design discourse. Can timelessness be designed?
MBB:
Nothing is timeless. Everything is bound to its time. What we often describe as timeless is perhaps better understood as durable. Longevity can be pursued consciously.
TANN:
How do you know when something is ready to exist publicly?
MBB:
When I lose interest.
When I feel able to detach from it.
TANN:
Is Ouuma an extension of personal taste?
MBB:
Always.
Nothing emerges purely from strategy.
TANN:
Do you shape the brand, or does the brand shape you?
MBB:
I am still kneading.
Marouane describes his process less as routine and more as accumulation and rediscovery.
Images are noticed. Notes are taken. Screenshots stored. Sketches appear, then disappear into periods of dormancy. Ideas are allowed to rest, sometimes for long stretches, until memory and desire align again.
Distance, however, is non-negotiable.
A physical separation from home is necessary to think clearly, to enter a state of openness where work can begin. Dialogue is equally essential. No object fully exists until it has been subjected to exchange, friction, discussion.
How is Ouuma perceived from the outside?
Marouane seems unconcerned with strict alignment between intention and interpretation.
People, he suggests, perceive a feeling. That is sufficient.
What fascinates him more is the diversity of those drawn into the orbit of the brand, the elasticity of cultural references and personal associations.
Today baklava. Tomorrow currywurst.
Today Berghain. Tomorrow Raï music and telenovelas.
The arc of Ouuma, much like its founder, refuses narrow categorisation.
