Travel and Fashion

“When Fashion Takes a Sacred Seat,” Essence Magazine

“Some part of me cherished the idea that fashion had a place in the heavenly economy and that God admired a pretty new dress as much as any mere mortal….”

Hotelier and Interior Designer Breaking Boundaries in Marrakech, Essence

“‘Being different was a way for me to succeed. I started to look at my difference as wealth.’ Lawyer turned boutique hotelier MeryAnne Loum-Martin, owns and runs the eight-acre boutique hotel Jnane Tamsna in Marrakech, Morocco. With 24 rooms, five swimming pools and a clay surface tennis court, Jnane Tamsna is the only black female owned boutique hotel in Morocco. As a hotelier, Loum-Martin’s clientele has included the likes of movie stars Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, and designers Giorgio Armani and Donna Karen. But the woman behind it all has a story fit for a movie herself. ‘I believe in the power of imagination. Everything that enables people to move ahead in life begins with their ability to imagine something different, a better world for themselves.’”

“A Girlfriend’s Guide to 12 Hours in Accra, Ghana,” Essence Magazine

“The more airplane rides I took across oceans, I began to notice how much I appreciated the little city guides I found in-flight magazines. I would pull out my iPhone and jot names of the listed “must-see” cafes and boutiques in European cities. But the more I traveled the more I realized how rare it was to find these little urban snippets for African cities as if the only thing African countries had to offer were visits to tribal villages, rustic game park lodgings or sobering pilgrimages to historical sites….”