Harper’s Bazaar Arabia 200th Anniversary Issue: Kenza Fourati And Dora Bouchoucha On The Maternal Bond

Introducing the Harper’s Bazaar Arabia x Cartier LOVE cover series, celebrating the 200th April 2025 issue of Harper’s Bazaar Arabia…

It’s the ultimate compliment – to love and admire someone so intensely that you name your child after them and hope that they inherit all their characteristics. When French-Tunisian model-turned-entrepreneur Kenza Fourati introduces herself as “Dora’s daughter. And Dora’s mother,” it’s at first perplexing, until the mystery unravels that she’s given her vivacious eight-year-old her mum’s moniker. That’s how deep the bond between this famous film producer mother and her 37-year-old daughter really is.

On Each Other

Kenza: Wild. Empathic. Energetic.

Dora: Reliable. Creative. Affectionate. That’s boring! boring!

Kenza: No, not boring. It is great.

On Their Special Relationship

Kenza: It’s really about the safe place that she has created. She makes me feel the safest. Dora: Even though Kenza is my daughter, it’s very strange because she’s the first person I think of when something happens. Something serious, something dramatic, anything… She’s the first person I want to talk to, and go to. This bond is very strong; even though I’m her mother, we’ve had a very strong friendship since she was a child.

On Family Memories

Dora: It’s not the answer you’re expecting, but a fantastic memory that has stuck with me is from when she was four or five years old. I was working a lot and she would tell me, “When I grow up, I will have four kids and I will wait for them at four o’clock and I will cook a cake.” Everything I didn’t do…

Kenza: Everything I’m not doing.

Dora: She’s doing that with her kids.

Kenza: Definitely not waiting for them at four o’clock with a cake.

Dora: She’s a great mum. Really, really.

Kenza: Thank you.

Kenza: It’s amazing to create memories when you travel, but I think just being back home – where I consider home – in a neighbourhood in Tunisia, and having this slow morning, having breakfast, going to the beach, doing the things we’ve been doing since I was born, basically. At the end of the day those are the memories that stay. Being home, in the back yard, not doing much – those are my favourite memories. I see my children, my nephews and nieces, having the exact same memory, which I hope they’ll carry on to the next generation.

On Learning From Each Other

Dora: Kenza taught me a lot. It’s never one way. She taught me to be patient because I’m the most impatient person in life. The older I get, the more impatient I become. She taught me to be more down to earth, because I’m not. And whenever I am with her, I just step back and be how she wants me to be. It’s very important for me to please her really, really, really! It’s very, very, very important. I have another daughter, but it’s a different relationship. But Kenza, I need her approval. Why? I don’t know.

Kenza: She’s my mum, so I’ve learned most things through her. I need to anticipate, need to control. I’m someone who needs processes. But I think the older I get, I’m a little bit less fearful and a little bit more in the present. This is not what she teaches me, but it’s because of who she is. I have learned to be a little bit less fearful and a little bit more in the moment.

On Love

Dora: It’s a feeling beyond anything. How can I describe maternal love? It’s difficult. It’s overwhelming. It’s overwhelming in the good sense, the good meaning. Now that I have grandkids, there is something very special about it; through her kids, I tend to perpetuate that love, which is even stronger. But I cannot describe love, maternal love. It’s not palpable. It’s beyond everything.

Kenza: That’s a big question. I think love comes in many different forms. I think it starts with loving yourself. To offer the best love around you. Love is part of your heart outside of yourself, and how to have a relationship with that part of your heart outside of yourself. I guess love is probably the most abstract thing to describe, yet it’s what really brings us all together in everything we do. Every relationship we have. Love is very abstract, but it’s the cement of everything for all of us.

On Evolving Relationships

Dora: When she had her first child – she named her after me, Fedora – it was very surprising for me. I have gotten used to it now. The bond became even stronger. Both of them, not only Kenza, even Maleke, my other daughter – who also has two kids – they are always fighting with me because I really, really do what my grandmother did to me; she spoiled me. They ask me not to give candies, and everything that is forbidden but with me it’s allowed. I do exactly the opposite. And I lie to them. I even lie!

Kenza: Not only did she lie, but she taught them to lie [laughs].

Dora: I didn’t teach them to lie…

Kenza: I asked them: “You didn’t have chocolates?” They had chocolate all over them!

Dora: That’s my role as a grandma. It’s not my role to be the mother. Yes, I want to spoil them. And I really love that role.

On Motherhood

Dora: To tell you the truth, I didn’t think of it. I’ve never planned anything in my life – including becoming a mother. I’m a very instinctive person.

Kenza: The opposite of me. I’m not an instinctive person. I wish I was. Until you really live it, you don’t know it. When you become a mother, you become way more compassionate and empathic. I was a tough kid, I’m so sorry. And it’s funny how you see cycles perpetuate through generations.

Dora: I remember telling myself I will never do what my mother did to me when I was a child. And I very often catch myself saying exactly the same sentences and words that my mother did. And I’m sure that Kenza does the same.

Kenza: It’s true. A lot of things change, but a lot doesn’t. It’s in the blood.

On What Is Missing

Dora: Send me the kids.

Kenza: Don’t come, but send me the kids [laughs].

Dora: They say, “I’m busy, I’m busy.” Send the kids. I want them to stay at least two months. She still says they’re too small. I can go pick them up and take them back. I love kids. They call me “Matoto.” Dora couldn’t say Mamido when she was a kid. So, she pronounced it Matoto and it stayed. The four of them [grandchildren] sleep with me in the summer.

On Gratefulness

Dora: I wouldn’t have said this years ago, but today, at my age, I really feel grateful to have my loved ones and my family, my grandkids, my daughters and my husband in good health. That’s really important for me.

Kenza: Gratefulness is something I practice, and I think it’s something most people should practice, because it gives you perspective on exactly what is important. And I think, especially in a time during which there’s a lot of uncertainty and it’s very challenging, grounding yourself in what is extremely important – your loved ones being healthy, a safe environment – at the end of the day, we don’t need much. The word Alhamdulillah in Arabic, it really illustrates what we mean. Thank God. Be grateful to God.

On Why They’re Proud Of Each Other

Dora: She’s my daughter; smart, beautiful, empathetic and very generous. I was much wilder, impatient, all the negative things, because I had an atypical childhood and upbringing. I didn’t have boundaries, I didn’t have trust. I was tamed by [my children]. It’s true. They tried to tame me because I really was wild. Since she was 10 or 12 years old, she was saying, “Mama, calm down!”

Kenza: I’m very proud that she is my mother, because I think she’s a pioneer in so many ways. Not only in her profession, but also as a woman, as an Arab woman, as a human. You break a lot of ground. I think, it’s extremely inspirational. Voila, I named my daughter Dora, so hopefully she’ll fill her big shoes. She’s very type A, like her grandmother… Very ambitious.

Lead Image Credits: Kenza and Dora wear Cartier Love Jewellery, all Cartier. Kenza wears: Dress; Shoes, both Ferragamo. Dora wears: Dress; Shoes, both Balmain

Editor-in-Chief: Olivia Phillips. Acting Editor-in-Chief: Sophia Serin. Creative Director: Marne Schwartz, Tamim Mortaza. Vice President: Farrah Taylor. Group Managing Editor & Words: Natasha Faruque. Art Director: Paul Solomons. Photographer: Mattia Guolo, Vladimir Marti. Movement: Jamie Neale, Adrien Galo. Production: Steff Hawker, Jean-Marc Mondelet. Make-up Direction: Anna Sadamori, Raffaele Romagnoli. Set Styling: Camille Rousseau. Videography: Maycon Dehan. Fashion: Gabriela Cambero, Charlotte Marsh-Williams. Hair Direction: Jean-Luc Amarin, Adam Garland. Nail Artist: Nafissa Djabi, Leyla Mistry. Photography Assistants: Alessia Azzolini, Alessio Spanu, Manfredi Prestigiacomo, Macky Navarro; Videography Assistants: Larissy Leandro. Production Manager: Gijo Thomas. Image Editor: Jemima Joy. Production Coordination: Erin Steel, Chloe Christodoulou, Marina Moravenova. Hair Assistants: Tracey Nguyen, Yihan Jen, Ziyan Zhang, Wenting Zhangn, Bella Hudgell. Make-up Assistants: Ismahane Benabbou, Natalia Bokan, Roberto Meloni, Sitara Nash, Gabriel Leggieri. Nail Assistants: Yasmine Hilali. Editorial: Milli Midwood, Meeran Mekkaoui.