I’timad: A mythic Andalusian story, reimagined by Billel Ouazene and Elvira Tiaou

I’TIMAD revisits the true story of I’timad al-Rumaikiyya, a woman who was born enslaved in 11th century Al-Andalus and spent her final years exiled in the now-forgotten city of Aghmat, Morocco. In a court where poetry signified status, her wit transformed her fate—she became the queen consort to “poet-king” Al-Mu’tamid ibn Abbad of Seville, who was taken by her ability to improvise after a chance encounter.

Here, with I’timad’s legend reimagined through a stage play of sorts, her migration of ascent and loss is translated sartorially into frames that unfurl sequentially. Each look transmutes a scene in an exercise of distilling a lofty saga within form today, looking beyond the standard format of a fashion editorial and towards a deeper inquiry into rendering a journey that’s visible yet fantastical. 

Originally published in Dazed MENA Issue 05 | Order Here

Producer EMMA LE LOUARN Make-up CHLOÉ, hair ERIKA KIMURA, set designer PRUDENCE PALLE, casting director ESTHER BOITEUX, models SAFIA, ILYAS, CHARLOTTE, production coordinator MAXIME BEKANGBA, photo assistant MAXIME SZYMANSKI, stylist assistant JEANNE GIGNOUX