When Rim Amhaj talks about Ritersie, it doesn’t sound like a business pitch. There’s no polished brand speak or no forced mission statement. Instead, it feels like a love letter. “Ritersie began as a very personal project—almost like a whisper from the past calling me back home,” she tells MILLE. “I didn’t set out to start a brand—I was trying to start a conversation.”
That conversation began at her grandmother’s house in Taza, Morocco. It was January 2023. The Paris-based accessories designer was in a moment of personal flux, emotionally and creatively, when the idea came. What followed was less of a pivot and more of a return: to home, to heritage, and to the feminine lineages that raised her. Today, Ritersie is a jewelry label rooted in Amazigh culture, memory, and reclamation. Think silver lip rings modeled after ancestral adornments that hold a story.
Born in Morocco and raised in France, Amhaj exists between two worlds, and that tension gives her work its edge. “Growing up, I saw the richness of Amazigh culture all around me, but it was often sidelined or misunderstood,” she shares. “I wanted to create space for it to exist proudly and unapologetically in the present.” It’s a familiar push-and-pull for many North Africans in the diaspora—the desire to preserve a culture that’s been dismissed or distorted, while still reimagining it on their own terms.
And for the Ritersie—A combination of the first letters of her name “Ri” and her best friend’s lastname, “Tersie” —founder, that culture lives loud in the details. Her designs are deeply personal; emotional, even. “I come from a lineage of strong Amazigh women whose stories were often marked on their skin in ink,” she explains. “That history—both the beauty and the burden of it—informs every piece I create.”
Take her signature lip rings, for example. Delicate yet unapologetic, they’re more than jewelry, serving as vessels of memory. “It’s an homage to our grandmothers,” she explains. “My grandma raised me when my mum was still in Morocco. She was my mum. It represents the love and respect I have for her.”
Amazigh tattoos—once widespread across North Africa—serve as a central design reference. And while once worn with pride, many of these marks have become stigmatized or erased over time. “These tattoos weren’t just decorative—they were maps, protection spells, stories,” the designer says. “By translating their patterns into wearable art, I hope to keep those meanings alive, especially for younger generations who may not have seen them firsthand.”
There’s a word for what Ritersie is doing, though Rim herself never says it: reclamation. Because at the root of her brand is a quiet rebellion against colonial erasure, religious shifts, and the slow creep of modernity that has tried to flatten indigenous identity. “The stigmatization of Amazigh symbols, especially tattoos, is a product of colonial erasure and religious shifts,” she explains. “Through jewelry, I aim to offer a contemporary platform where these symbols can live again—honored, not hidden.”
That responsibility weighs heavily, but she carries it with intention. “I constantly question my own intentions: Am I honoring enough my people? Am I giving back to the communities I draw from?” she says. “It’s also very important for me to give visibility to North African women every time I can. I grew up having zero North African examples when I was a kid.”
Amhaj wants her community to see themselves not as a cultural footnote, but as the main story. “I hope they wear a piece and feel pride instead of shame,” she says. “That they start asking questions, digging deeper, creating their own interpretations.”
Part of what makes Ritersie so compelling is the way it bridges tradition and now. The pieces feel… fluid. Like they could belong to a woman from 200 years ago, or to someone on a Paris Fashion Week street-style roundup. And that’s deliberate. “It’s a constant dance,” she reveals. “I start with the traditional forms, but I let them evolve through a modern lens—thinking about scale, material, comfort. The goal is to create something that feels timeless.”
And speaking of materials—silver is the backbone of the brand. “Silver has deep roots in Amazigh culture—it’s been used for centuries in amulets and wedding jewelry,” she explains. “There’s something sacred about it. It tarnishes, it changes, it carries time in a way that gold doesn’t.”
That process—of honoring the old while crafting something new—begins with research. Amhaj digs into oral histories, childhood memories, and vintage photographs before sketching by hand. Each piece is then produced by a local artisan in Marrakech, using traditional techniques whenever possible.
And while the label is still in its early days, the designer’s vision is big. She dreams of a pop-up in Paris or a party during Fashion Week—one “for us,” as she puts it. Asked who she’d love to see wearing her pieces, she doesn’t hesitate: “Imaan Hammam—she’s such a powerful and inspiring Moroccan woman who embodies strength, pride, and modernity while staying connected to her roots.” And if Rihanna called? Well, Amhaj would be ready.
Main image photographed by Baz
