The Global Stage Embraces Algerian Heritage

 

Algeria's fashion scene is experiencing a remarkable renaissance, blending a deep-rooted cultural heritage with bold, contemporary innovation. From the historic streets of Algiers to the global runways of Paris, Algerian style is making a powerful statement. This evolution is not just about clothing; it is a narrative of identity, resilience, and a burgeoning industry poised for significant growth. Let's explore the key fashion trends currently shaping this North African nation.

The Global Stage Embraces Algerian Heritage

Perhaps the most significant trend is the international recognition of traditional Algerian garments. During the prestigious Paris Fashion Week, iconic pieces like the karakou, gandoura, and caftan captivated global audiences. These traditional outfits were not merely presented but were revisited with sophistication, featuring exceptional embroidery and refined cuts that bridged the gap between past and present. The influence was so profound that major fashion houses like Chanel drew inspiration from the traditional Naili dress, incorporating similar flowing fabrics and even traditional Algerian accessories like the M’Hazma into their collections. This spotlight has solidified Algeria's place on the global fashion map, showcasing the richness of its textile heritage.

Traditional Garments, Modern Interpretations

At the heart of this revival is the karakou, a velvet jacket embroidered with gold and silver thread, traditionally worn with the saroual (baggy pants). At the 10th edition of the Fashion Day Dzair in June 2025, the karakou shone brightly. The overarching trend was the "return in force" of traditional fetla and mejboud embroidery techniques, worked in gold or silver thread to honor the garment's noble origins. Designers like ZK Haute Couture, Création Hera, and La Maison Karakou Le Rêve are leading this charge, proving that the karakou is not a relic of the past but a living, evolving symbol of Algerian luxury. Similarly, the caftan, gandoura, and melhfa—which have been recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage—are being reinterpreted with contemporary cuts and silhouettes.

The Rise of the Corset

In a surprising twist, the corset has emerged as a must-have item for young Algerian women seeking an assertive style that blends heritage with modernity. Once a symbol of rigid nobility, the corset is now being reimagined by local creators and integrated into a variety of looks. It is being worn as a top, incorporated into dresses, or styled as a statement piece over an oversized shirt. Designers are even combining the corset with a contemporary sarouel for an avant-garde bridal look, demonstrating that in Algerian fashion, tradition and trend can coexist seamlessly.

The Allure of the Sahara

Another powerful trend draws inspiration from the vast and evocative landscapes of the Algerian Sahara. At the 10th Festival of Feminine Creation in Algiers, the fashion scene was transformed into a "Saharan runway". Designers presented a palette of ochre, terracotta, and Touareg blue, using materials like silk muslin and hammered leather to evoke the textures of the desert. The looks featured nomadic draping, sculpted corsets, and cascading volumes, while traditional Berber jewelry—silver, amber, and engraved charms—served as the structural backbone of the silhouettes. This movement highlights a turn towards Algeria's indigenous Amazigh heritage, reinterpreting it for a modern, sophisticated audience.

A Market on the Rise

This creative energy is supported by a rapidly growing fashion market. As the largest fashion market in the region, Algeria's apparel, footwear, and accessories sales are forecast to be worth $10.6 billion. This growth is attracting international brands like Zara and Mango, which are opening boutiques across the country. However, the true potential lies in nurturing a domestic fashion industry, with designers like Amor Guellil advocating for the creation of a genuine haute couture sector that can compete on a global scale.

Conclusion

Algerian fashion is at a pivotal moment. It is a vibrant tapestry woven from threads of ancient tradition and modern audacity. From the global recognition of the karakou to the desert-inspired collections and the rise of a new generation of designers, Algeria is confidently defining its own narrative. The future of Algerian fashion is not just about following trends; it is about setting them, grounded in a heritage that is as rich and diverse as the country itself.

Career centres: your school’s best kept secret.

What is one of the best kept secrets at post-secondary institutions? It is the career centre office! Although it may have different names on other campuses, the primary purpose of a career centre is to provide programs and services on career and employment topics. We can loosely categorize the services and programs available at a career centre in the following three categories: career advising, career information, and employment services.



CAREER ADVISING is coaching or career counselling services designed to help you explore your career options; assess skills, values, and interests; and identify job search strategies and decision making skills. Other programs and services can include job search information, résume and cover letter critiques, mock interviews, networking, workshops, and portfolio development.



Career centres provide CAREER INFORMATION to help you relate your skills, experience, and goals to the workplace. It can also help you explore career choices and the career decision-making process. Many career centres provide career information through self-assessments and career planning resources, labour market information (local to global), graduate or professional schools information, employment directories, and employment advertisements.



A common resource career centres use is “What I can do with a degree/major in…?” This resource contains relevant skill development needs, occupational choices, examples of companies who look for individuals with this degree, and other useful resource links. Having the right information will help you make an informed career decision.



For anyone looking to explore work opportunities and connect with prospective employers, you can take advantage of a career centres’ EMPLOYMENT SERVICES. In most cases, career centre staff develop individual relationships with many local and national employers and graduate/professional schools. Through job advertisements, you learn about employers who have part-time, summer, or post-graduate job openings.



Throughout the school year, career centres also organizes many job/career fairs, information sessions, and meet–greets with employers. These events provide you with direct access to employers and can help you understand what companies may be a right fit for you.



The best advice for anyone looking for resources on how you can link your education to the available jobs is to “Ask questions.” Feel confident that by getting an answer to your career-related questions, you can save time in the job application process, make informed academic course choices, or better understand career interests.  I guarantee there is a dedicated group of career services professionals who are keenly interested in helping you discover your career journey and help you connect with the workforce.for more info, check out avant career

Online grocers such as BigBasket, PepperTap, ZopNow, veggy kart and Localbanya to speed up delivery to outrun kiranas

Online grocers are working on shortening their delivery time to less than two hours by building more delivery points or roping in more partner stores in a bid to attract consumers who prefer quicker kiranas to waiting for delivery of online orders.

Companies such as BigBasket, PepperTap, ZopNow and Localbanya say time and convenience are driving more sales for online groceries, unlike deep discounting that has helped apparel or durables segment. In fact, if consumersdon't get their orders on the same day, the order dropout rate could be as high as 50 per cent, industry experts said.

"In general ecommerce segment, the price differentiation is so high that the consumers are ready to wait as they won't get such an option outside. But in our case, if we don't deliver it when consumers need, they will go to the next kirana store even if there is Rs 20 discount on our site," said Mukesh Singh, cofounder of ZopNow.

Getting daily household, food and personal care products delivered at short notice needs investments and partnerships with a host of players.

ZopNow, which is present in five cities, is in talks with various supermarkets chains for tieups to shorten its delivery time while Amazon India, which started Amazon Kirana services in March, plans to rope in more kiranas to reduce its delivery time to 2-4 hours.

BigBasket, which recently acquired Bengaluru-based hyper local delivery startup Delyver, introduced one- hour delivery service in Gurgaon last week.

"There is a part of the basket that the customer buys on a higher frequency basis. These are smaller order values and these can be delivered efficiently through Express delivery," said Vipul Parekh, chief finance officer at bigbasket.com.

 

Gurgaon-based PepperTap, which offers two hour delivery service, plans to reduce the time to one hour by next year. "We are working on a technology which will help us crunch the whole process, from picking up to delivering the product," said Navneet Singh, CEO at PepperTap that currently operates in seven cities.

Mumbai-based Localbanya, which offers deliveries on the basis of time slots, also introduced two to three-hour delivery service in five cities two months ago. However, it does not plan to crunch the time any further.

"The issue is that most of this is done on a bike and hence, there is a limit to how much a biker can take along and how much orders we can accept for a particular time. Hence, we will not reduce the time any further for now," said Karan Gonsalves, head of marketing at Localbanya, which is present in six cities.

Despite these companies' efforts to reduce delivery time, some experts say replacing local grocers still remains a huge challenge for online grocers. "Over the years, grocers have built a relationship with their customers. All you have to do is call them up and they will deliver the products to you in 30-35 minutes," said Devanghsu Dutta, CEO at Third Eyesight. That kind of service would be hard for any online grocer to match.

Health tech startup Portea Medical acquires Health Mantra

Flipkart has acquired Bengaluru-based mobile payments company PhonePe. Although the company has not yet passed any comment on the development, the news has been confirmed . The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

Co-founded by former Flipkart employees Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari in December last year, PhonePe is building a product based on the new unified payments interface (UPI) of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

 

Home healthcare service provider Portea Medical, run by Health Vista India Pvt. Ltd, has acquired medical equipment service provider, Health Mantra India Pvt. Ltd., in a cash and stock deal.

The motive of this acquisition lies in the fact that it could help Portea penetrate deeper into categories such as respiratory care, geriatric care and orthopedics.

Health Mantra, which was launched in 2009 by Ashish Bhutada and Anoop Kodoli, claims to have more than 30 biomedical engineers, physiotherapists and service staff. It currently operates in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra.

Godrej Nature's Basket on expansion mode, adds 3 more stores

Running high on its expansion spree, Gourmet foods retailer Godrej Nature’s Basket has recently announced the launch of 3 more stores to its bouquet. This will make the total number of stores in the country to 36. The new stores have been launched in Gurgaon, Pune and Mumbai.

Commenting on the same, Mohit Khattar, MD, Godrej Nature’s Basket said, “Godrej Nature’s Basket has been a pioneer in the gourmet space for a while now and through our successful Pan- India online operations we have been able to hit our targeted revenue levels.”
“We are now happy to introduce one new store each in Pune, Mumbai and Gurgaon in order to cater the needs of discerning consumers better in select catchments in these cities,” he added.
 

Over the past year, the chain has expanded its existing retail stores in Delhi and Mumbai to larger spaces and has grown exponentially on its eCommerce model after the launch of its PAN India operations in September, 2015.  With its new omni-channel strategy, Nature’s Basket is looking to grab new and emerging markets of the country.

Despite the fact that it delivers only non-perishable products in tier-II and tier-III cities, the average spend on an order is Rs 1,500, claims the company.

Foodpanda join forces with IRCTC to offer meal during rail journey

Online food ordering marketplace Foodpanda has recently announced its partnership with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to give rail passengers food ordering services from its restaurants during the journey. The order food will be delivered via Foodpanda at the train stations.

The pilot to this service will soon start from New Delhi Railway station and will extend to other cities like Mumbai, Bangaluru, Pune and Chennai.

Travelers will have to place orders through Foodpanda app 2 hours prior to the journey. While placing order, the customers will need to give various details including their train details, timing and seat number so FoodPanda delivery boys can deliver the food before train’s arrival time.

The partnership is surely a big positive for FoodPanda as well as train travellers. For FoodPanda, they will get advantage of their platform being opened up to millions of train travelers, which can help them scale their business aggressively. Also, for train travelers, they will now have wide variety of food available on train, literally from every major restaurant in the city. Not to mention benefit of all the discounts that Foodpanda offers on their app.

Over last few months, IRCTC is trying to bring about a change in the way food is served to train passengers. Just a few days back, Indian Railways announced that they will be gradually phasing out Pantry cars from all the trains and will consciously push for eCatering and Takeaways. A senior Railway official had said, “This is a long-time plan of the Indian Railways. The idea is to introduce e-catering at all stations and reduce dependency on private caterers who are in charge of pantry cars.”

Telangana tourism launches luxury yacht rides

Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC) have launched two new catamaran yachts for the Hussain Sagar Lake at Lumbini Park in Hyderabad. TSTDC has introduced the luxury ride package with these two new boats, which will be priced at Rs 100 per person. The boats can accommodate 12-15 members per trip. Additionally, TSTDC has also launched party packages priced at Rs 2,000 per hour at these luxury boats. The party packages will begin post 8:30 PM and can be availed up to 12:00 AM.

The boats will not only provide a luxurious ambience to tourists but also have a lower seating which is closer to the water during the ride. The inauguration was done by Sania Mirza, brand ambassador for Telangana State. The new catamaran boats have been procured from the USA and will be available to ferry the public at the Hussain Sagar Lake. TSTDC owns the largest water fleet in India amongst the state tourism departments, about 95 which comprises small and big boats.

The corporation operates leisure based cruises and water sports at different lakes and rivers of the State, Parasailing activity at Hussain Sagar etc., which are very popular amongst the local crowd as well. Currently the state tourism development corporation already operates one mechanical large boat as a ferry to the Buddha statue. TSTDC also runs 3 cruises 2 AC and 1 Non AC for parties and rides on the lake. TSTDC has also introduced a jolly ride with these cruises – with a carnival style folk and cultural song and dance presentation during the ride. It operates a Jetski and speedboat as well to cater to the tastes of adventure enthusiasts.