"Karaku" is the dress of men acquired by Algerian women

Fatima Hamdi - Algeria

Dolce & Gabbana, Elie Saab, Yves Saint Laurent, Zuhair Murad and other international designers who have inspired a number of their designs in recent years from the Algerian costume known as "Karako".

Karaku, or capital, is considered one of the oldest and most famous traditional clothes of women. It was once confined to the bourgeoisie only to make it the most important piece of clothing for women.

The women did not wear the Karako before, so it was the monopoly of the men of the ruling class.

Karako "with pure gold thread
Algerian fashion designer Nayla Bourouina says that this dress was inspired by the midday (Ottoman rulers) of their servants.

During the Ottoman period, the rulers of Algeria improved their Karaku uniforms to be embroidered with pure gold thread as well as the use of fine natural velvet and silk fabric woven to the bottom.

The Karako dress has a distinctive story. It consists of two pieces, an embroidered velvet jacket, and the bottom of it is more specific to the suit. It is called "slacks" and "rounded pants", the story of this dress.

Karako "the demand of the women of Algeria
"Karako" has many types, most notably "Alghalila," according to Algerian fashion designer Nabila Chibah to the island Net, a short jacket, while "Fremela" shorter than them and the latter shows more details in the body of women.

Sheibah stresses the increasing demand for "Karako" in recent years, not only an Algerian occasion of the women who wear "not only wear it to the capitals (women of the capital), but has become the demand of everyone in various regions of the country."

Algerian families are keen to embroider the "Karaku" jacket with pure gold thread and inlaid with precious stones, and the price may reach ten thousand dollars.

"It is a unique piece, and its price is unlimited depending on the number of gemstones and the amount of thread used," says fashion designer Nayla Borouineh.

Borouina adds that the Karako gold thread is bought from the bank and is weighed in grams and embroidered in different designs.

Shorouk points out that the Karaku jacket is a painting that every designer creates in his own mark.

Six months per piece
Karaku's achievement is six months, and Nabila Shibah says that the "Almajboud" method of embroidery reaches more than this period, where the design is drawn on velvet and then identified with a leather thread, and then wrapped the entire skin with gold thread.

It is also used to embroidery "Karaku" method called "hair" and the other "twist", where these methods differ from the "Almjbod", in terms of the introduction of stones and crystal, while the latter only a gold thread, as explained by Nabila Shibah.

The Karako is a precious piece held by women, just like any gold or precious stone. Women keep the Karaku worn on their wedding day to their daughter's wedding.

Brides and Soul Thread
The Algerian bride wears "Karaku" with the so-called thread of spirit, a necklace the woman puts on her forehead.

The novel says it was named when a bridegroom from a poor family brought a short necklace to his bride, a nobleman.

The novel adds that the father of the bride sympathized with his daughter and her poor husband, carrying the necklace and decorated with her forehead.

The brides in Algeria are committed to wearing a "thread of spirit" with "Karako" to express the woman's standing with her husband in good and bad times.

The bride wears the so-called "taboo" of fattoul with Karaku, a shiny silk cloth in which the girl expresses her modesty.

Designer Nayla Bourouina points out that the new generation of young women are keen to wear Karaku with all its accessories.

"Karako" has returned to the forefront in Algeria after the Black Decade.