On October 7, 2026, Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler<\/span> dedicated an episode of its “Made In” video series to three ancient Moroccan skills: rug weaving, metalwork, and Moroccan tassels<\/span>. The final chapter, starting at 8 minutes 39, was filmed with Val\u00e9rie Barkowski in her Marrakech workshop<\/span> and her medina boutique.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t The episode is entitled \u2018How Morocco\u2019s Ancient Crafts Are Still Made Today\u2019. In it, Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler follows three people: Oualid Namous, from Les Nomades de Marrakech, who weaves carpets; the artist and designer Yahya, who works with metal; and Val\u00e9rie Barkowski, who makes pompoms.<\/p> This choice places pompons on a par with carpets and metalwork, two recognised pillars of Moroccan craftsmanship<\/strong>. “<\/em>In a way, the tassel has accompanied me for thirty years,”<\/em> Val\u00e9rie explains in this sequence.<\/p> It all begins in northern Morocco with the mendil<\/span>, the striped cloth women wear on their hips when going to the fields. “The women would pull threads and make small tassels along the edge of their mendils, and I found it so beautiful.”<\/em><\/span> The story of this encounter and the first piece born from it is told in our article on the handmade tassel bath towel: the original<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t “In Morocco, tassels have taken a large place in my activity,”<\/span> she says in the video. Val\u00e9rie Barkowski’s Moroccan tassels<\/span> are found on bath linens, bed linens, and table linens. They also adorn terracotta lamps, babouches, and necklaces. For a time, they were even attached to the brand’s labels.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t In the episode, Val\u00e9rie Barkowski describes her craft and its demands for precision: “With tassels, it’s the thickness of the tassel, it’s its length, it’s the way the thread is twisted.”<\/em> A Moroccan tassel<\/strong> that is too loose or poorly twisted frays in the wash. Quality lies in these details, and the whole workshop knows it: “<\/em>It must last as long as possible.“<\/em><\/p> This standard requires time. The first collection took three years to develop\u2014more than a thousand days, she recalls. “If you don’t have patience, I think you cannot succeed, nor make a quality product.”<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t The end of the sequence follows Val\u00e9rie Barkowski through her Marrakech workshop<\/strong>, where each step is handled by one person.<\/p> Abdelilah prepares the cutting: several layers of fabric stacked, the tracing, then cutting with the large knife. At the stitching station, Hadija and Fatima work on machines. In the video, Hadija is making fitted sheets for a hotel project, the type of commission described in the article on bespoke hotel linens<\/a>. Myriem handles the ironing and inspection of each piece, and the packaging.<\/p> Ismael, Mustafa, and Malika, the embroiderers, have worked with Val\u00e9rie Barkowski for a long time, each on different techniques. They are seen hand-embroidering cords that will later receive tassels, embroidering small cushions, and shaping the Moroccan tassels<\/strong> one by one.<\/p> The chapter also addresses the social dimension of the craft. Many women cannot work outside their homes. The workshop therefore set up a system allowing them to take work home and bring it back when they can. At one point, Val\u00e9rie Barkowski counted up to 500 embroiderers. “They suddenly understood that with their hands, they could do something and, above all, make a living from it.”<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t The tassel exists in many cultures. “India has its own tassels. Greece perhaps has others. Morocco has its own.”<\/em> What interests Val\u00e9rie Barkowski is this identity unique to each country, and the freedom to revisit it, to divert it, to make something else of it.<\/p> Hence a clear position: “I don’t talk about saving a tradition, because traditions evolve.”<\/em> The episode ends on the next generation: “A young woman in Morocco will not have the same tastes as her grandmother or her mother, but if she can buy something that comes from her culture, I find that fantastic.”<\/em><\/p> The Moroccan tassels<\/strong> filmed by Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler<\/strong> tell this journey: a gesture observed in northern Morocco, which in thirty years became the signature of a Marrakech workshop<\/strong>, and one of the contemporary faces of Moroccan craftsmanship<\/strong>.<\/p> \u2192 View all tassel pieces on the e-shop<\/a><\/p> \u2192 Discover the V.Barkowski boutique in the Marrakech medina<\/a><\/p>\u2018Made In\u2019 showcases three Moroccan craft trades<\/h2>
Thirty years of Moroccan tassels<\/h2>
From home linens to objects<\/h2>
What makes a quality Moroccan tassel<\/h2>
![\"making](\"https:\/\/www.valeriebarkowski.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pompons_vbarkowski-photo-tania-panova-1024x683.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Marrakech workshop, station by station<\/h2>
Cutting, stitching, inspection<\/h3>
Embroidery and tassels<\/h3>
Work at home<\/h3>
Moroccan tassels, an evolving tradition<\/h2>