It’s hard to put into words how valuable a friend and advisor Safir Bellali has been since we first met in 2013. Over the past 11 years, Safir has not only helped our internal team build and grow the PI Apparel portfolio behind the scenes, but has been one of our core and more vocal champions, spreading the PI word and roping many of his peers into our cause.
I have never known anyone with quite the drive and passion Safir has for the wider design community, as well as for forging bridges between industry and academia to help ready the next generation of talent. He never seems to tire or moan about the million and one things people want him involved him – be that at VF, PI, the 3DRC, as a consultant and beyond; everything he commits to is delivered to the highest quality and always with a smile.
Drawing on his own experiences navigating the industry, I am thrilled to be speaking to Safir today about Aliph, a venture he hopes will foster design talent and opportunity across the vastly underserved African continent. Let’s go!
For those of our readers who haven’t had the pleasure, who are you Safir and what has been your professional history to date?
Thanks for having me, Michael! My name is Safir Bellali and I was born in Morocco and grew up in Luxembourg. Later in life, I left Morocco with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Aided Design & Manufacturing, long before those fields became as popular as they are today. Eventually, I moved to the US to study Industrial Design, focusing specifically on automotive design, which was my first professional passion.
After spending a few years working in the auto industry, I then transitioned to my second passion: action sports. I joined Vans at around the same time that they were acquired by VF Corporation, to lead the Design team for action sports equipment and ended up staying with the company for 18 years. I spent the first 11 years at Vans and the last 7 at the group level within VF.
During my time at VF, I led design and innovation teams, focusing on everything from action sports to digital innovation. I worked with brands like Vans, The North Face, Timberland, and Dickies, as well as many others, leading initiatives around innovation strategy, particularly as it related to digital product creation.
And then about two years ago, I left VF and shifted my focus to teaching and consulting. I’ve been teaching at my alma mater, ArtCenter College of Design, and consulting for a range of fashion, luxury, and creative tech companies which includes close collaboration with LVMH and Epic Games, which has been an incredible opportunity to help merge fashion with cutting-edge technology.
These days, I balance my time between teaching, consulting, and working on exciting projects that allow me to continue exploring my passions for both design and innovation.
You are always very humble and down to earth but readers should know that Safir here is an industry superstar; definitely worth a connection request on Linkedin! Now you didn’t mention it just now specifically, but we are here today to talk about the Aliph project that you founded. What is Aliph and what inspired you to take this on?
Aliph is an educational program I founded with the aim of bringing excellence in design and innovation education to the African continent.
The inspiration for Aliph stems from my own personal journey: I came from Morocco with a deep passion for design, especially cars, but I had limited access to the kind of skills development I needed. Fortunately, I managed to secure an internship at Mercedes-Benz in Germany, where I honed my skills and prepared a portfolio that eventually got me accepted into the ArtCenter College of Design, one of the world’s top design schools. I owe much of my success to Dr. Klaus Kallenbach, who not only recognised my potential, but gave me the opportunity to pursue my dreams. Without his belief in me, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
That experience made me realise that there are so many talented people in Morocco, across Africa, and even globally, who may never get the chances that I had. It’s a waste of incredible talent, and that realisation has stayed with me throughout my career.
Africa is brimming with creative potential, but it’s underserved when it comes to quality education in design and innovation.
Over the past few years, I’ve been developing the idea of Aliph, driven by the understanding that there’s a significant gap between what the industry needs and what educational institutions are currently able to offer.
Traditional universities are large, often slow-moving institutions, and it’s difficult for them to keep up with the rapid pace of technological advancement. I see an opportunity for a more nimble, agile educational program that serves as an innovation lab for education – one that can quickly adapt to the needs of the modern workforce. Aliph is designed to prepare a new generation of creatives, not just for the industry today, but for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.
At its core, Aliph is about creating opportunities where they currently don’t exist, by partnering with institutions and corporations to provide students with the tools and resources they need to succeed. It’s my way of giving back, ensuring that the next generation of African talent gets the chance to thrive in the global design and innovation industries.
Such a great initiative – to clarify, you mentioned this being focussed on design; is this design across all verticals or is it more niche?
For now, we are focusing on fields we know well and where we see clear opportunities. The goal isn’t just to provide a great education – while that’s important, it won’t pay the bills on its own. What we really want is to create pathways for success, either through entrepreneurship or by equipping students with the skills and knowledge they need to land professional opportunities, whether in corporate settings or elsewhere.
That’s why it’s critical for us to understand the needs of the industry – what skills and competencies they’re lacking and can’t find. Right now, we’re starting with three or four verticals which include: Industrial Design, which covers product design as well as transportation design; Fashion Design, a space that is undergoing significant transformation and one I’m personally very familiar with; Spatial Design, which involves architecture and creating immersive spatial experiences; and digital creation for Gaming and other immersive experiences across industries.
While these are our initial focus areas, we are always keeping an eye on how this might evolve as industry needs change.
Who have been your core partners in getting this going to date, and what role(s) do they play?
It’s been a pretty amazing ride ever since I started on this journey and I’ve been working with some true disruptors. The initial idea for Aliph actually began back in 2010 when I invited a few of my classmates from ArtCenter College of Design to Morocco. There were about half a dozen of us, and we were reflecting on the opportunities in the region. Everyone was enchanted by Marrakech, which is such an incredible source of inspiration for designers – it activates all your senses. We joked about how amazing it would be to have an ArtCenter in Marrakech one day, and that idea stayed with me.
Fast forward to 2020, just before COVID hit, I organised our first creative offsite. It was an opportunity to bring people together and talk about the shifts happening in the industry and the new competencies that were emerging but weren’t yet being addressed. Around that time, I met Younes and Mia, who became key partners. Younes is an Industrial Designer based in Marrakech, and he and his sister, Mia, run an incredibly inspiring design studio there. As we talked, we realised our visions were aligned, and since then, we’ve been working together to develop the project further.
Another core partner has been Ilham Hraoui, who is married to one of my classmates in Engineering School. She had just launched a digital lab for the Moroccan public broadcast company and was deeply interested in expanding this idea. She’s been a consistent partner in helping push Aliph forward. Additionally, Eric Holdener, who has founded several companies and worked with Venture Studios, has been a crucial sounding board. He, and the Moonflare team (Balint and Muneeb), helped me shape the business plan, the pitch documents, and the execution strategy. His input has been invaluable in solidifying the vision.
I also want to mention Greg Hatton, a close friend, thought partner, and an incredible storyteller. He introduced me to key figures and has been with me every step of the way. Last year alone, we travelled to Morocco seven times, engaging with students, professionals, and key stakeholders to ensure we had the right conversations and understood the reality on the ground.
Finally, another key partner in this journey has been ArtCenter College of Design. Kristine Bowne and Maggie Hendrie understood the importance of establishing a footprint in Africa from the beginning and have been amazing thought partners.
There are many others who have contributed to this project, and the support has been overwhelming. It really shows that there’s something special about this idea, and now the challenge is to figure out how we can fully bring it to life.
I have had the pleasure of meeting most of those you’ve named here and can only agree that they are big thinkers and doers, keen to disrupt and give back. You’ve mentioned that Aliph aims to bring excellence in design education to underserved regions, starting with Africa and Morocco. What specific challenges do creatives in these regions face, and how does Aliph aim to address them?
Creatives in regions like Africa and Morocco face two primary challenges: education and opportunity.
First, while there are countless passionate and talented students eager to learn and grow their skills, many simply cannot find or afford the educational opportunities they need. The cost of pursuing a design education in the West, especially in places like the U.S., is prohibitively expensive for most. Yet, many of these students know that with basic tools like a laptop and an internet connection, they can still learn a great deal. So, education itself is a significant barrier, sometimes due to a lack of resources, but more often because accessible programs simply don’t exist.
The second challenge is opportunity. Even when students do manage to develop their skills, they often lack the network that comes with attending a well-known institution. In the West, part of the value of attending a top university is the access to a professional network, which opens doors and creates opportunities. Many creatives in underserved regions don’t have this kind of access, and that becomes a huge barrier to their success. They may not even be aware of where the opportunities are or how to connect with the right people.
Aliph aims to address both of these challenges.
By providing high-quality, accessible education, and creating a network that students can tap into, we hope to help them not only develop their skills but also connect with the opportunities and networks they need to truly succeed. It’s about bridging that gap and empowering creatives to take their talents to the next level.
Now you mentioned the Aliph creative offsites you have run in Marrakech, and I of course was lucky enough to attend one earlier this year – thank you again for including me! How many of these have you run to date and what role have they played in shaping the vision for Aliph?
So far, we’ve held four creative offsites, starting with the one in 2010 that sparked it all, and moving forward, our plan is to make these an annual affair. They’ve been intentionally small and highly curated, with the goal of bringing together well-established creative professionals from around the world. The idea is to share perspectives on the major shifts happening in their respective industries and explore what skills, competencies, and knowledge are necessary to succeed in these evolving landscapes.
Each session has included around 15 to 20 creatives from places as far as Singapore, with participants like Joshua Young, who you know well, flying in twice just for the offsite. We’ve also been fortunate to have high-profile creative thought leaders join us, and of course, we were delighted to have you attend earlier this year as part of that cohort.
These offsites are all about building an ecosystem of professionals and thought leaders who are deeply connected to the realities of the industry. They serve as a kind of creative council for Aliph, keeping us grounded and helping us stay in tune with what’s happening on the ground.
One key takeaway from these sessions is that it’s not enough to just teach impressive courses; we have to ensure that the content is curated and flexible enough to meet the needs of today’s creative industries. The offsites have helped shape our vision for an educational model that’s inherently agile, allowing us to fine-tune the programs as the industry evolves. Beyond that, it’s essential to maintain strong connections with the industry, providing mentorship, internships, and even career pathways for students after they complete the program.
Another critical aspect of these offsites is creating a platform for creative thought leaders to come together and tackle some of the big challenges facing the world.
It’s about more than just designing the next product – it’s about harnessing our collective creativity to address larger societal issues. We call these interactions “creative collisions.”
Imagine bringing together a chief designer from an automotive brand with a bright-eyed learner from Ghana, and having them exchange ideas with design leaders from India. It’s a powerful way to ensure we’re constantly learning from each other and staying aligned with the needs of our world, so we can apply our creative problem-solving skills where they’re most needed.
And as you’ve said, what better setting for such ‘creative collisions’ than the bustling, colourful city of Marrakech! I know Aliph aims to emphasise human-centred design in all that it becomes; how do you envisage this approach influencing the way that the program will be structured and how you interact with the communities it serves?
That’s a great question! Human-centred design has always been at the core of my approach to teaching design and innovation, whether at USC or ArtCenter. It’s a methodology that places the human experience at the centre of the creative process, ensuring that the work we do genuinely serves people’s needs. The idea is that many of the significant challenges humanity faces today – whether it’s responding to natural disasters, addressing food and energy issues, or improving access to education – are fundamentally human problems. If you look at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), each presents its own set of challenges, but at the heart of all of them is the human being.
By adopting a methodical design approach, we can tackle these challenges effectively. Whether I was teaching footwear, apparel, or digital creation classes, I always encouraged my students to focus on what I call “problems worth solving”. This means working on something that will have a positive social, environmental, or humanitarian impact. I’ve been continually surprised and inspired by the outcomes of this approach – it’s amazing to see what happens when students are encouraged to think beyond aesthetics and engage with real-world issues.
At Aliph, this methodology will be embedded into the structure of our program.
The goal is not just to teach design for design’s sake but to develop skills that can make a tangible, positive impact on communities.
There are many excellent design schools out there, but Aliph’s mission is to focus specifically on design and innovation that drives social and environmental good. That’s the road we’ve chosen to take, and it’s how we aim to interact with and serve the communities we work with.
I have known you now for 11 years, and in that time you’ve always been very vocal about the need to bridge the gap between those who want to access top-tier design education and those who can afford it. How will Aliph make education more accessible while maintaining high standards?
Yes, that’s absolutely at the core of our program and one of the biggest challenges we’re addressing. In the beginning, our focus will be on promoting excellence because there are incredibly talented individuals out there who need access to opportunities, but they simply can’t afford it. It’s our job to find and support them, and make sure they have what they need to thrive. At Aliph, the support we provide will not be based on financial ability but rather on merit and need.
Aliph is set up as a nonprofit organisation, and the business model is designed to generate revenue that we can reinvest into supporting learners through the program. The goal is to create opportunities for those who need them most. Our program will be in-person, as we strongly believe in the power of human interaction and proximity. There are certain things – like the exchange of ideas and hands-on learning – that just can’t happen the same way over Zoom or through an online platform. However, we do plan to leverage technology where it makes sense, particularly when it comes to connecting learners with subject matter experts who may not be physically present.
For those selected into the program, the emphasis will be on talent, passion, grit, and constant curiosity.
Those who can afford the program will pay for it, but for those who can’t, we will provide full support throughout the two-year program, including housing, infrastructure, technology, and food. Our aim is to remove financial barriers so that the best and brightest can focus on honing their craft.
Additionally, we’re very mindful about the quality of the instruction. We have a solid idea of who we’ll be recruiting to teach, and we aim to partner with some of the best educational programs in the world. We don’t see ourselves as competitors to other schools; instead, we want to collaborate and bring the best courses to our cohorts. Whether that’s a 12-week program delivered via Zoom for a few hours each week, or a two-week in-person intensive, we’ll experiment with different formats to ensure we’re offering the highest quality education in a way that’s both accessible and impactful.
Ultimately, it’s about balancing accessibility with maintaining the high standards that will prepare these students to succeed at the highest levels of the design industry.
That’s a great approach! Linked to the topic of education, as you know, I recently interviewed Lynn, Diane and Carson about the work they are doing at Oklahoma State University with the 3DRC’s education subcommittee for which you have also been instrumental. Is this work influencing your approach to Aliph in any way?
Absolutely! The work Lynn, Diane, and the team have done with the 3DRC’s education subcommittee has been incredibly influential in shaping my approach to Aliph. The progress they’ve made in translating the certification framework we developed into something tangible is a prime example of how important this work is. Having a certification framework is critical, but if it remains just a theoretical construct, it doesn’t truly serve anyone.
The work they’ve done – taking that framework and turning it into a fully realised program – is exactly the kind of outcome we need in education.
Seeing their vision come to life and witnessing the first students progress through the process has been inspiring. I recall when we had Carson with us in New York last year, and it was clear how impactful that experience had been. It’s an excellent model for what can be achieved, and there’s a lot for us to learn from as we move forward with Aliph.
While the scope of Aliph is different, particularly given the broader focus on design and innovation across various industries, the lessons from the fashion-specific work of 3DRC are invaluable. We’ll need a certification framework for Aliph as well, especially for our fashion-related programs, and we’ll need to build strong relationships with the industry to ensure we’re educating students with the right skills.
The work with the 3DRC has demonstrated how important it is to align education with the needs of the industry, and that’s something we’ll definitely be incorporating as we translate our vision for Aliph into a concrete execution plan.
Missed the OSU interviews? Click here to access Part 1 and Part 2.
I’m so glad to hear that it’s having a positive knock-on effect and impact on your broader work. Now, you’ve also mentioned the mentorship component of Aliph; can you share any success stories to date and what they looked like?
Absolutely – the mentorship component of Aliph is something we’re deeply committed to, and our biggest success to date has been with a young, incredibly gifted 19-year-old creator from Ghana called Samuel Aboagye. I first heard about Sam through my friend Greg Hatton, and I was immediately captivated by his story. Sam noticed mobility issues in his community near Accra and, with nothing more than discarded materials like sewing machine motors, car batteries, and plywood, he built a rickshaw and a scooter to help his neighbours get around. His ingenuity caught the attention of the BBC, and later, his work was exhibited at the prestigious Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, alongside some of the world’s top designers.
When Greg and another friend, Dan Green, went to Ghana to dismantle Sam’s vehicles and bring them to the exhibit, they created a short documentary about him. It was through this project that I got to meet Sam.
From the very start, I saw in him the kind of creative mind we want to support through Aliph – someone full of creativity, hunger to learn, and a deep desire to help his community.
Last year, we decided to bring Sam to Morocco for one of our creative offsites. It was his first time leaving Ghana, and it was a transformative experience for him. For the first time, he found his tribe – people who shared his passion for creating and solving problems. Until then, he had always been quiet, letting his older sister speak for him in public, but in Marrakech, he found his voice and realised he wasn’t alone in his ambitions.
Since then, Greg and I have been mentoring him regularly, with one or two Zoom calls per week. We provided him with a laptop and taught him how to use tools like Google, YouTube, and Zoom. It’s been incredible to watch him go from sitting under a tree for hours to solve problems, to accessing an entire world of information at his fingertips. His growth has been rapid, and it’s clear that he’s just getting started.
The team from ArtCenter College of Design generously sponsored Sam’s participation in an online automotive design course, and we mentored him through the program. His skills have developed dramatically – you should see how his sketches have evolved; it’s incredible to see how far he’s come in just one year.
Sam’s story is a powerful reminder of the talent and potential that exist in underserved communities, and with the right guidance and resources, these individuals can truly thrive.
Yes, I remember you talking about Sam and his ‘thinking tree’ – it’s a great story! You’ve already mentioned that experimentation with new teaching modalities is central to Aliph’s approach. Could you elaborate on the kinds of technologies and workflows you’d love to introduce?
For starters, it’s essential to understand that while technology will play a significant role in Aliph, as it does in virtually every industry, we need to maintain a balance between the analog and digital aspects of design.
There’s something incredibly tactile and emotional about creating something physical, whether it’s a garment, a car, or any other object. That emotional connection is critical to producing designs that truly meet expectations. If you only engage with the digital side and don’t see the physical creation until later in the process, it might be too late to make meaningful changes. So, we’re very focused on nurturing that balance between the tangible and the virtual.
At the same time, yes, experimentation is central to Aliph’s approach and we want to be a lab for experimenting with new learning methods. Whether it’s a young learner fresh out of high school or a seasoned professional looking to update their skills, we believe that education must be agile and tailored to different audiences. The way boomers learn, for example, vastly differs from how millennials or Gen Z approach education, and we need to explore what works best for each group. A one-size-fits-all model just isn’t going to cut it.
One of the areas where we’re really pushing experimentation is with in-person cohorts combined with remote or in-person subject matter experts. I’ve already been testing these dynamics in the classes I teach at ArtCenter. For example, I’ve had students in Pasadena and Marrakech in the same class at the same time, and I’ve taught from Marrakech with students back in Pasadena using immersive technology like life-sized projections. While it’s not quite a hologram, it’s an exciting step in experimenting with new teaching modalities and seeing what works best.
The goal is to experiment with how we deliver content, which audiences respond best to different formats, and how we can facilitate these ‘creative collisions’ I mentioned.
These interactions between different minds, backgrounds, and skill sets are where innovation happens, and that’s a core philosophy we want to foster at Aliph.
It’s been amazing to delve into what you have planned for Aliph in the long term, Safir. In terms of the practicalities, what kind of timeline are you working to, to get this up and running?
Yes, we’ve had to put together a fairly well-thought-out timeline for Aliph because we’re currently at the stage where we’re about to begin raising funds. We’re in the process of setting up two nonprofit entities – one based in Morocco and an international nonprofit based in Europe. The structure is coming together, and that’s been a key focus.
We’re giving ourselves about a year to pilot a number of foundational courses – 12 in total. We initially hoped to start now, in the Fall, but after revising our timeline, we’re now planning to begin recruiting students and running pilot courses starting in January 2025. Throughout the year, we’ll be testing different modalities and approaches based on the subject matter and instructors. This year of experimentation is crucial for ensuring that we refine the curriculum and get the program structure right.
By early 2026, if we feel the program is mature enough, we’ll officially launch our first full cohort. It feels like a fast timeline, but at the same time, given how long it has taken to get to this point, it feels like progress has been steady. We’re making small, deliberate steps, and everything is moving in the right direction.
I want to stress to our readers that Safir is somehow managing to balance this with about 17 other jobs, me constantly pestering him for PI, as well as being a parent – I’m not sure where your energy and patience comes from but it’s infectious! Well, we are out of time, so I wanted to end with this: how can our readers get involved and help in getting this going?
Haha – I appreciate the energy comment! It’s definitely a balancing act, but I’m passionate about this work, and that keeps me going. To answer your question about how readers can get involved, there are a few key ways they can help us make Aliph a success.
The fashion industry, particularly in Morocco and parts of North Africa, is one of the more developed sectors, and we see it as a major vertical for Aliph. Having spent the last 20 years in this space, I know the industry quite well, and we need support from fashion brands, retailers, and groups to really build a talent pipeline through this program.
One of the biggest ways people can help is through mentorship, internships, and offering career pathways.
We’re looking to collaborate with fashion groups and companies that don’t just see this as a charitable cause, but as a strategic opportunity. By working together, we can shape the program to meet the industry’s needs and develop the skills and competencies that companies are currently struggling to find. It’s about building a real, meaningful pipeline of talent into their organisations.
For those in leadership positions, whether at fashion brands, retailers, or other companies, we’d love to start conversations about sponsorship – whether that’s sponsoring students or sponsoring parts of the program. By doing so, they’ll be investing in the future of the industry while also helping us ensure that Aliph’s graduates are well-equipped to step into roles that are in demand. Ultimately, we’re serving both the learners and the industry, and we can only achieve our goals if we work together to shape these future professionals.
So, I guess in a nutshell: if you’re in a position to offer support through mentorship, internships, or sponsorship, we’d love to connect and explore how we can collaborate to make this vision a reality!
Please reach out to me on Linkedin and we can go from there!
And Michael, I am grateful for the opportunity you’ve given me to share our vision for Aliph. This is a moonshot, and we need all the help we can get!
You heard him folks – get in touch and get involved! Safir, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today.
Safir will be attending and speaking at our inaugural footwear event, Stride 2025, in Portland next March. For more info about this project, please click the image below!
Have any questions or comments? Pop them in the comments section below and we’ll come back to you!
