Alemais is a brand synonymous with sartorial wanderlust thanks to its popular postcard-print resortwear, so it’s perhaps no surprise that for its first-ever international runway, the cult Australian label has chosen to show in Marrakech, one of the most picturesque destinations in the world. But what might surprise you, as it certainly did me, was that the collection and show were almost a decade in the making, years before Alemais even came to be.
“When I first came here eight years ago, I was only meant to come for a week and I stayed for about six or seven weeks,” said Lesleigh Jermanus, founder and creative director of Alemais. “I loved the grit of Marrakesh. You could go into the Medina and it's chaos; there's a snake charmer and a monkey and suddenly someone's grandma's pouring you a mint tea. When you see people embrace on the street, they've got a hand on each other's shoulder, they shake their hands and they say hello for a good five minutes. It really stole my heart.” A chance encounter during that trip led Lesleigh to meet Laurence Leenaert and Ayoub Boualam, multi-disciplinary artists and founders of the celebrated ceramics and textiles house, LRNCE. “What was meant to be a very quick exchange turned into three hours and then eight years of long conversation," said Lesleigh. “I just knew we shared a symbiotic language, and that something's going to happen one day, I didn't know what it was.”
Lesleigh founded Alemais in 2020 during the height of COVID soon after she was made redundant in her role at the time. As she pondered her next steps, Indian suppliers began reaching out for ways to offload their abandoned goods. In an effort to help, the designer channelled her 20 years of design experience, including a stint at another Australian label Zimmermann, into creating her own brand. It began with upcycling deadstock fabrics, turning denim jackets into skirts, but soon, the world caught onto Alemais' playful pieces grounded in sustainability, desperate for joyful clothing that reminded us of sun-soaked destinations while everyone was hunkered down in a pandemic.
Before long, Alemais went on to become one of Australia’s most influential and commercially successful fashion brands, winning Australia's National Designer Award in 2022. Women all over the world fell for its punchy prints of seashells and tennis rackets splashed onto flouncy dresses and linen separates alike. Most recently, Alemais got its big break in Hollywood, becoming the unofficial wardrobe of The White Lotus Season 3 with its most stylish characters sporting Alemais' vibrant minidresses and kaftans (Piper, yessss!)
Collaboration and craft have always been at the core of Alemais' DNA. Every year since it was founded, the brand partnered with artists and craftspeople around the world, starting with local artisans like Emma Gale, a self-trained painter based in Byron Bay. And finally, five years later, Lesleigh got the call from Laurence.
In a full-circle moment, Alemais showed their resort 2026 runway collection in the dazzling tiled courtyard of Marrakech's Culinary Art Museum. Buyers, editors and stylists from around the world descended on the Moroccan city to witness the brand's official international debut, curious to see how Alemais has infused its latest collection with elements of Moroccan architecture and LRNCE studio's sculptural designs.
There was an audible gasp when one of the first looks emerged, a raffia-fringed gown in vertical stripes, the palette mirroring the sunset hues of the city. A crocheted, panelled number got more than a few nods from the stylish crowd, which included talents around the world from Alva Claire to Leandra Medine. By the time a gorgeous brocade gown with fringe dripping from its sculpted hips sashayed down around the piles of oranges that decorated the catwalk, everyone was ready to leap to their feet.
After the show, Lesleigh shared that in many ways it was the most challenging collection to date—in the best possible way. “My starting point is always the maker and the artisan because that's what my true love is," she said. “One of the looks required seed beading, which we've never done before, and took 317 hours to make.” The breathtaking finale gown was inspired by the arches that dot doorways of Marrakech, and the panelled dresses referenced the distinctive Moroccan diamond tiles. “We looked to Laurence for unusual interior techniques that we then translated into clothing which we had not tried before, like the cornelly embroidery and diamond patchworks. We tried to immerse ourselves in the culture and colours and techniques.”
On paper, Australia and Morocco may not seem all that similar. But somewhere between the desert vibes and convivial spirit, Lesleigh and Laurence found a beautiful marriage of minds. “It's a real cultural creative exchange between us and our artisans all around the world,” she said. “I think when you open your hearts, that's when community is built. That's what we try to do and that's what we've tried to do from the beginning.”
