Layla Azahaf
Meet the princess of waste and magic—Layla makes beautiful jewelry, trinkets, and decorations from recycled materials. A self-taught artisan, she can transform a milk carton into a evening handbag, a box of tuna into a decorated cushion for needles, plastic forks into a hand fan and so on.
In Morocco where she was born, recycling is a big part of the culture.
As a little girl, she started to collect what she found outside and transforming it into beautiful objects. Like her people, she grew up in surroundings with little waste.
Coming to Belgium was a culture shock to her. Overwhelmed by the amount of waste in the streets, she put her skills to use and got to work.
Layla now teaches workshops for disadvantaged women as she was in their position before as well. In these courses, she imparts one mantra: Garbage has potential. Through learning how to give forgotten objects a second life and a new value, we discover their creativity and capacity.
Like her creations, she also believes in the "second life" of the women around her. Many women are not aware of their talent. They just need to be found and polished till they can shine again.
