Karakou Embroidery

The karakou is a short fitted jacket of velvet, usually deep red, black, green or purple, embroidered in gold thread and worn with wide trousers by women in Algiers for weddings and formal occasions, and it is the signature ceremonial dress of the capital. Two embroidery techniques carry it: mejboud, in which a twisted gold cord is couched onto the surface in flowing lines, and fetla, in which flat gold thread is laid and stitched into dense filled motifs. A full piece takes a skilled embroiderer weeks or months. Workshops in Algiers make them to order, and the jacket appears at every wedding in the city, adapted by designers but recognisable.

What you actually see

• Mejboud couched gold cord - the flowing raised lines on the velvet.
• Fetla filled motifs - flat gold thread laid in dense patterns.
• Velvet in deep colours - the grounds the embroidery is worked on.
• Wedding wear in Algiers - the setting the jacket belongs to.

When to go

Year round; the wedding season from spring to early autumn is when it is worn. Half a day to visit workshops. Pieces are made to order and take time.

Honest expectations

Genuine hand embroidery is expensive and slow; machine-embroidered imitations are widespread. Workshops are small and generally work by appointment rather than as shops. It is ceremonial dress, not a souvenir, and buying one to wear needs some thought.

Nearby

The Casbah workshops are above; central Algiers lies below.