Filippa, we’d truly like to know how you came up with the idea of founding your own fashion label Filippa K in 1993?
One could say that I was born into the fashion business. My parents opened a boutique in Stockholm in 1967, directly influenced by the British fashion and music scene of the time. A few years later, after their divorce, my father went on to create a very successful jeans brand in Sweden while my mother moved to “Swinging London” with my brother and me, where she started a childrenswear label. So I was immersed in the fashion scene at a very young age but also grew up with family entrepreneurship, so it felt quite natural for me to start my own brand with my husband at the time, Patrik Kihlborg. It was the introduction of the Apple home computer and living in a white clean space, free of the excesses of the 1980s. I was inspired by the idea of a capsule wardrobe – having just what you need, a well-curated collection that you could mix and match. I believed in making a difference, in somehow changing the world – that ‘how’ we worked, the company ethos, was just as important as ‘what’ we made. It was built on honesty, truth and really caring.
You have since left the company, and in spring 2023 you opened Villa Laba, a hotel in Morocco. How closely related are fashion and hospitality?
I would say fashion and hospitality are very closely linked as they’re both about style, philosophy and service – in many ways a hotel is also like a brand where consistency and quality are essential to its success. The obvious difference is that a hotel is about a complete experience, whereas fashion is about a product. A hotel is more complex and demanding in that it requires constant daily attention – it’s about the present moment. Despite the hard work, it’s a dream for creators like us to be able to build our own little universe.
Why did you create it in Essaouira?
Before I met my partner Thomas Fourtané, a French architect, I had been to Marrakech and completely fell in love with the Moroccan culture and style. I crammed my bags with leather poufs, ceramics and textiles to take home! Thomas knew Morocco well and took me to Essaouira the first time. Since then, we have gone back regularly. The coast and the laid-back vibe always left us feeling recharged and happy. With Thomas as the architect and my design background, we had already renovated several homes together both in Paris and Corsica and we worked well together, but also complemented each other.
Filippa K is known for its purist design. Did you also approach the interior design of Villa Laba with this aspiration?
It is inevitable that whatever project I involve myself in will have a recognizable common thread. Thomas and I love the same things: modernist architecture and art, unpretentious simplicity, with function and practicality at its core, yet also with a soulful and sensual edge. His mother was Swedish, and he has a sense of Scandinavian minimalism in his work too. We wanted the place to breathe a rustic elegance and express what we loved about the Berber culture, let the beauty of simplicity shine through and yet still be comfortable and stylish. Morocco has such a rich history of design going back many centuries. I think that the calm and harmony that guests feel is directly connected to the careful balance of minimalist design and local crafts. Most important, Villa Laba doesn’t follow any trend that will feel tired in ten years; it is genuinely timeless.
Thomas is an architect. What is special about the architecture?
Villa Laba was built entirely by hand, by masons and craftsmen from the region who often lived on site and used their traditional techniques and materials. Thomas wanted to learn from them but also add a contemporary twist with generous proportions, a minimalist expression and an opening up towards the ocean view, while at the same time respecting the Berber style. The fact that the hotel looks as if it has always been there, and is hard to tell apart from the rest of the village from a distance, is exactly the result we wanted.
One of the key pillars of Filippa K is sustainability. You were one of the first brands to integrate a secondhand corner into its stores. To what extent does sustainability play a role at Villa Laba?
For me sustainability is about responsibility, transparency and respect. As with Filippa K, Thomas and I didn’t set out to create an “eco-hotel”; the sustainable aspects developed naturally with the whole philosophy of the project. Using candles instead of electric lamps was first and foremost a way to offer a different experience – it’s a magical way of grounding oneself in the present moment and helps you let go and relax. We followed our instincts and acted according to what felt right and true, with regard to the local community and the environment. Thomas was also very proactive in his plans to recover and reuse as much water as possible, an essential element as Morocco is currently experiencing droughts due to climate change – we now have a system of phyto-purification (using special plants in basins) that filters and cleans waste water to irrigate the garden. What little rain there is flows off the flat roofs and follows a web of canals down the property into underground tanks, also used for watering plants. Solar panels on the roofs generate electricity for hot water. In many ways we’ve created a high-tech/low-tech environment where modern technology meets ancient traditions. But sustainability is so much more than technical solutions, it’s also about social connection and interaction. Rather than create a fancy hotel disconnected from its surroundings, we chose to place Villa Laba at the heart of the village and combine rustic simplicity with an unexpected refinement, representing a different sort of luxury. By embracing the local community, we not only offer guests a glimpse of rural Berber life; we have also hired several people from the village.
How important is authenticity to you when traveling – or do you want to be transported to a completely different world?
I love all sorts of styles and experiences. For me, the word authentic, when it comes to a hotel, means that the owner has a vision and genuinely puts their heart into it. So many places don’t have that; to be honest, I think it’s the exception. Pretty Hôtels is a good example of a travel platform that seeks out exactly those places. Authentic also means that there is a consistent style and there is some sort of connection to the place where the hotel is situated… I love staying in places that have a genuine sense of balance and beauty even in the finer details, but just as important are the attitude and the service; otherwise the authenticity evaporates. At the end of the day, it’s about being true and real.
You are living in Corsica now. Why didn’t you open the hotel in Corsica?
In fact, we never set out to open a hotel at all. We loved Morocco and the Essaouira region, we used to come for a week here and there, stay in small hotels, relax in the sunshine, eat delicious food, stroll around, sleep, read… and then go home and genuinely feel so much better than when we left. I knew there was something special about this area, the coast, something in the energy. Eventually, impulsive as we are, and always excited about building, creating and transforming places… it led us to start looking at pieces of land for sale, out of curiosity more than anything else. It started as a sort of dream fantasy and then when a Moroccan architect friend introduced us to the area of Sidi Kaouki, we felt an instinctive pull, like “this is the place.” Corsica, on the other hand, is our home, Thomas has worked here as an architect for many years, and his parents have had a summer house in southern Corsica since he was a child. It’s an exceptionally beautiful island but starting up and running a hotel project here would demand a completely different focus and different skills. I feel that the dreamlike quality of Villa Laba would be hard to create in Europe.
What does a perfect day in Essaouira look like?
Start by walking up to the ramparts where there is a walkway with a spectacular view of the ocean, and Mogador island opposite. Then stroll around the medina and its labyrinthine streets. Don’t worry about getting lost; it’s not too big, and it’s safe. There are lots of stalls and small shops selling crafts: ceramics, textiles, leather goods, baskets and rugs. The atmosphere is much calmer than in Marrakech, and the vendors don’t hassle you. Stop for a break in one of the cafés and have a mint tea or freshly squeezed juice and just watch people go by.
What are your favorite restaurants in Morocco and Corsica?
Cabanon Bleu in Porto-Vecchio is a restaurant on our local beach, Saint-Cyprien. With the white sand and turquoise water it’s hard to believe you’re not in the Caribbean. The restaurant has a cool but relaxed vibe. In Ghazoua, outside of Essaouira, a young French couple has opened a charming little restaurant at a dusty, chaotic crossroads. Soleil is so surprising and improbable when you walk in that it can’t help but make you smile. Fresh yellow-and-white striped cushions, chunky wooden tables and whitewashed walls. It’s a typical example of a new generation of French moving to this area of Morocco with an entrepreneurial spirit.
Apart from your own, what are your three favorite hotels, and why?
Adrere Amellal Siwa Oasis in Egypt is my all-time favorite hotel. I stayed there with Thomas almost ten years ago, and it was a constant inspiration during our Villa Laba project. It’s truly beautiful and exotic, at the edge of the Sahara by a large salt lake and palm grove. Completely built of packed earth, with only candles at night. Everything feels as though time has stood still. I spent quite a lot of time in Thailand before I met Thomas and Rachamankha Hotel in Chiang Mai is a truly gorgeous place to stay. Full of character and attention to detail, created by an architect and built in the historic local style, it has a timeless quality, feels like a private home and looks like it’s always been there… Nice is my connecting point when I fly from Corsica to Stockholm to see my children, and I used to find it frustrating that there were no hotels there with charm and style. Hotel Amour opened a couple of years ago, and that has been great fun – but now Hotel du Couvent has caught my heart. The interiors are gorgeous, both hip and elegant, with a sense of ease and comfort.
©Pretty Hôtels
Villa Laba is in Sidi Kaouki, a 10-minute drive from Essaouira and 15 minutes from Essaouira airport. Here is more information about the hotel.
Booking & Contact
Villa Laba
Douar Ichaouine
44125 Commune de Sidi Kaouki
Morocco
