Valérie Barkowski, A Life in Design and Craft
A considered approach to design
Think, then make.
Textile design for her is a way of responding to the world, with care, precision, and coherence. A duvet cover, the scenography of a space, the creative direction of a brand: everything starts with intuition, then takes form through discipline. Style matters EQUALLY as intention. And it is always the line, the gesture and the meaning that leads.
Knowledge moves from one hand to another. There’s no fixed method, no formula. Decisions are taken fully, clearly, and precisely. Everything here has been built, over time, and apart from fast-moving structures. What matters is alignment, being true to the work.
As a Belgian textile designer and creative director based in Marrakech, Valérie Barkowski works with a philosophy of slow design. Each collaboration, each project, each textile reflects a single, simple idea: create less, but do it better.
Through design, through making, a story unfolds
There was no career plan. Just encounters, places, experiences, from India to Russia, Vietnam to Morocco. And of course, Marrakech. The place where everything aligned.
Since the late 1990s, Valérie Barkowski has lived and worked between craftsmanship and design, between heritage and invention.
She is the founder of V. Barkowski, a brand of luxury home linens handmade in Marrakech for over 25 years. Along these first projects came others: The riad Dar Kawa launched in 1999, custom-designed collections, artistic direction for interiors and ethical brands and a growing portfolio of consulting in artisan production.
None of it by chance. All of it part of the same direction: a way of making that values responsibility over effect, and contemporary design grounded in Moroccan craftsmanship.
A way of doing things that became a lifestyle.
Between Brussels and Marrakech
Two cities, two tempos. Brussels was the beginning, a place of learning, clarity, and structure. Marrakech became the studio, a place of making, dialogue, and movement. Here, every object passes through the hands. Every seam is thought carefully. Time is not counted in output but in precision. The intention stays the same: honour slowness, respect the artisan, protect the authentic gesture.
Since 1996, three spaces have taken shape: an atelier, a riad, a boutique.
More anchor points than business steps. Strong foundations for a personal design philosophy where doubt has a place, and every detail is allowed to matter. To be a designer in Marrakech is to work with contrast: with heat, with rhythm, with chance.
It’s finding a line between two cultures, two speeds, and keeping the thread.
Collaborations, press & selected features
Since the early days of V. Barkowski, international publications have taken the time to explore the work. Long-form articles, in-depth interviews, and thoughtful portraits have traced the values behind the design, and the choices that shape it.
Publications include: T Magazine, The New York Times, Côté Sud, Elle Decoration, Monocle, Wallpaper City Guide, TV5 Monde, Architectural Digest, The Telegraph, Nomad at Home, Vogue, and more.
Working today
To create, yes. But not at any cost. The work continues through three clear directions: a curated e-shop for timeless, thoughtful homeware, long- or short-term collaborations with like-minded brands and a consulting practice in sustainable textile design.
The goal is not to produce more. But to contribute, where it makes sense, with experience, with deep knowledge of Moroccan artisan production, and with a mindful, human-scale approach to creation.
From bespoke projects to long-form design consultancy, it always starts with a conversation.
And with one simple belief: design should mean something.