Where We’re From, Where We Go
What if a passport wasn’t paper, but feeling? What if home lived not in a country, but in a color, a memory, a piece of fabric handed down with care?
That’s the energy behind BLADI (بلادي) and DIASPORA PASSPORT (جواز سفر الشتات)—a powerful two-part self-portrait series by Zina Louhaichy that explores identity, memory, and what it means to belong.
Styled, modeled, edited, and creative-directed by Zina herself, this is more than a photoshoot—it’s a reclamation of narrative. An ode to the women who came before her, and a declaration of who she is now.
Zina Louhaichy is a 21-year-old Moroccan-Italian actress, fashion designer, and creative force from NYC. She starred in Kasbi (dir. Farah Jabir), which premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, and Tea (dir. Blake Rice), showcased at Cannes the same year.
In 2020, from her Brooklyn bedroom, she founded her brand Louhaichy—a love letter from NYC to Morocco. She designs and sews every piece herself, creating clothes that challenge Western clichés and tell stories of women from her world. Her work has been featured in Teen Vogue and worn by stars like Felukah, Lola Tung, and Alexis Ren. With over 130k followers, Zina is building more than a brand—she’s building community.
Now, she steps in front of the lens for the first time—with a project that’s as personal as it gets.
All images courtesy of Zina Louhaichy.
PART I — BLADI (بلادي)
“My homeland.”
BLADI is Zina’s tribute to the Moroccan women in her bloodline—the ones she knows and the ones she’s only met through black-and-white photographs. Inspired by vintage Moroccan postcards from the early 1900s, many of which were taken through a colonial lens, Zina reclaims the image of Moroccan femininity, shooting it on her own terms.
Dressed in a takchita that recalls her great-grandmother, Allah yerhamha (الله يرحمها), and holding her father’s Quran, she brings the past into the present. Her hands are painted in henna: the star of Morocco on one, the New York Yankees logo on the other—a perfect symbol of the in-between space she’s always lived in.
This part of the series isn’t just about beauty. It’s about re-rooting. About carrying tradition forward, and letting it evolve with you.
“It’s a way of saying, I see you, to the women before me,” she says. “Even if we’ve never met, I know you’re part of who I am.”
PART II — DIASPORA PASSPORT (جواز سفر الشتات)
If BLADI is about the past, DIASPORA PASSPORT is about the present. A bold, colorful continuation of her story, this series explores the in-between space of being Moroccan in America—and American in Morocco.
It’s maximalist, layered, and loud in the best way. A Yankees cap redesigned with Moroccan colors, paired with a Noire Lace Belle top from her brand Louhaichy, tells you everything you need to know. She’s not choosing between cultures. She’s building something new from both.
Henna stamps on her hands read “Morocco,” with Amazigh symbols, and U.S. and Moroccan passports side by side. But as Zina makes clear, identity isn’t about documents.
“Home isn’t one place,” she says. “It’s the smell of my Meema’s cooking. It’s messing up Darija but trying again. It’s Casablanca at dawn. It’s a Yankees logo that means more than baseball. That’s where I feel understood.”
Through these images, Zina creates her own definition of home—one that reflects movement, memory, and duality. She’s not in one place. She’s in all of them.
With BLADI and DIASPORA PASSPORT, Zina Louhaichy shows us what it looks like to hold space for every part of yourself. To turn heritage into art. To make culture wearable.
This is how you honor your past—while still claiming your now.
CREDITS
Shot in London, 2025
Concept, Direction, Photography, Modeling, Graphic Design, and Editing by: Zina Louhaichy (@zinalouhaichy)
Styling by: Yesmine Naili-Douaouda & Zina Louhaichy (@enimseyy)
Camera Operated by: Anais Stupka (@anaisstupka)
Henna by: Ruqaiyyah Patel (@ruqaiyyahboo)
