BUILT BY CHRIF
Our story
Behind CHRIF there is one man: Hamid, known to everyone as “Chrif”. A whole life devoted to shoemaking, in Fès.
1960 · AGE 8
With the maâlem
Born in 1952, Hamid became an apprentice to a master shoemaker (maâlem) in Fès at the age of 8. In his workshop, by his side, he learned the craft day after day.
1963 – 1970
A stitcher first
From 11 to 18 he learned stitching and became a stitcher. Then he mastered lasting and every step of shoemaking, working for other workshops in the city.
1976 · AGE 24
Falling and starting again
At 24 he opened his first workshop, then a second, then a third. He fell, he lost, he started again. He never gave up.
AROUND 1981 · OUED SWAFINE
The real start, in Fès
His workshop finally took off in Oued Swafine, in the medina of Fès, where he made stitched shoes and California sandals and trained his own stitchers.
In the medina workshop: Chrif at the flatbed machine, next to California sandals. 
At the post-bed machine, stitching welted shoes one by one. 1994 · SIDI BRAHIM
The factory
In 1994 he moved to the Sidi Brahim industrial zone, where the factory makes its own soles and produces shoes, sandals and clogs.
TODAY
The next generation
More than 60 years after he started, his children bring his craft online. Every CHRIF pair carries his signature: Built by Chrif.
