Unusual pottery, stylish Berber jewellery, funky lanterns, colourful caftans, super soft bedspreads, comfy baboush, belts, bags, carpets and lamps; in the souk you can find Marrakech’s mix of vibrant North African cool and Euro-influenced chic. You can buy the most amazing things here if you just know where to find them. And that’s exactly the problem; the labyrinth of the city’s oldest quarter is full of hard-to-find, scruffy store fronts that turn out to be a glittering treasure trove once you enter.
As a foreigner, you don’t really stand a chance as left and right everyone is prepared to rip you off. Not in the mood for persistent salesmen and endless cups of mint tea? You better hire Kati Lawrence, your ultimate shopper’s accessory. She’ll certainly save you a lot of time and hassle and she will smoothly guide you around like a real Berber. To a visitor this is an inexplicable maze in which you can’t see out, but to Kati the souks are simple. It was love at first sight when she came here for the first time, fourteen years ago, “I was fascinated and kept bringing my mum back in. You either love it or you hate it,” she says.
Kati has lived in Marrakech for seven years. At first she took friends out shopping and then friends of friends. Today her clientele includes movie stars and other celebrities. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks have used her services and Cate Blanchett was one of the loveliest clients she has ever worked with. “They heard so much about it and just wanted to see what the souk is all about,” says Kati, a former London fashion buyer.
In fact it somehow makes more sense to hire a personal shopper in the Marrakech souk than in a Manhattan department store. Even with a good map, it is hardly possible to navigate this place. Prices aren’t fixed which means you need to have serious negotiating skills and even when you think you got a deal you just might have bought something that falls apart when you get it home. “Some people hate the feeling of being ripped off. Europeans are very polite and many are embarrassed about bartering,” Kati says before explaining how many tricks there are to get people in to a store. She knows them all.
This North African market town is the weekend destination of choice for the European jet set. The hotels situated in restored riads – grand traditional houses built around patios - are very comfortable, relaxed and luxurious but the souk is a different experience all together. Here it is dusty and hot and you must count yourself lucky if you don’t get run over by a scooter, a bicycle or a donkey cart.
Kati prefers to take her clients out shopping around 9:30 in the morning when the market is slowly starting to wake up. Mint sellers unload wonderful smelling bunches of the herb, halal butchers hang fresh meat in their shop fronts while donkey carts busily deliver goods. Daily life seems to carry on as it has for centuries, as this is still very much a working souk where you find a baker next to a chic pottery store.
Like a local she walks around, greeting and joking with shopkeepers in Arabic. This is a magical place with an old world charm and the sounds and smells to go with it. Kati will take you to the right shops where she has bargain-hunted for years. The minute you see something you like, she will start the talking. Bartering the price down is a fine art. The beautifully decorated serving plate first costs 200 dirham (25 USD) but after lots of shouting, handshakes and smiles Kati gets it for you for a 130 (16 USD). “You haggle like a Berber,” the salesman compliments her before we leave. “Come again soon!”
She charges 80 euro (115 USD) for half a day and 120 euro (170 USD) for a full day and you’ll probably have saved that after shopping with her for half an hour. “You seldom pay what Moroccans pay. It depends on the bartering skills what prices people get but with me they’ll not demand silly tourist prices. Be prepared to walk away. If you are not called back he either had a good day or your price was too low,” says Kati who sometimes hangs around in shops to eavesdrop on the prices Moroccans get. She is in the souks at least three times a week and sees what’s happening all the time; this simply is her paying hobby, “My advice is: enjoy it and do it with a smile.”
Kati Lawrence can be contacted via her email, HYPERLINK "mailto:katilawrence@gmail.com" katilawrence@gmail.com.
