Zadig & Voltaire returned to Paris for their latest collection. Presented off the calendar, the show was held in the Guild Hall of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, with a runway surrounded by scaffolding, symbolizing a brand that is under construction and ready for development.
The return to its hometown after five years of exposure in New York represents a rethink for the French fashion house and a doubling down on its roots. Inspired by the social movements of 1968, designer Cecilia Bonstrom touched on the people of the ’60s in a shearling vest and intricately embroidered black velvet Nehru jacket, while still preparing for the TikTok generation with plenty of toned midriffs on display today .
Shiny silver trousers were teamed with loose-fitting dresses in bursts of bright colour. The vibe varied from indulging in sequins and lace lingerie-style skirts to industrial with double denim and workwear-inspired smoked tops. Crinked suede was a new addition to the Zadig style, which has used the handcrafted technique on other garments.
The chunky knit added a casual touch that stayed true to the brand’s rock-chic roots. It’s a fall collection, a move designed to create social media buzz before the women’s ready-to-wear on display just before Paris Men’s Week hits stores on July 1.
The front row was filled with TikTok stars including Lily Chi, Ian Jeffrey and Mulan Bay, while models walked in for a live performance from artist Regina Demina, who created a special soundtrack for the show that was dropped together on Spotify. The return to Paris and off-calendar shows are part of a longer-term strategy, as reported by Bonstrom.
“We have grown into a truly international company,” she said. “But Paris is the capital of fashion, and we are a French fashion house with a French DNA. So it is very important for us to return this season and we really want to anchor here.
Bonstrom calls the ethos of the brand “effortless luxury”. Zadig straddles a position at the high end of the high street, with a focus on European and Japanese fabrics and construction, and a price point of around 350 euros to 400 euros. While there is pressure on the supply side, the designer said that the brand does not intend to increase the prices.
Zadig has invested heavily in its sustainability programs and supply chain tracing, Bonstrom said, “so I can really be assured that we don’t bring some fake promises.” TikTok comes into play again, as it understands that young consumers want numbers and will hold brands accountable on social media.
After years of expansion in the US and South Korea, the big push now lies in China. The company reopened its first renovated and rebranded store in Shenzhen on 16 June after buying back its stake from former partner IT Group in 2020. There are plans to work for a pre-collection show in the country.
“We’ve put a lot of pressure on our shoulders, even though Zadig has already come to a pretty point and proven that the genre is very desirable in the world, but we have bigger ambitions,” Bonström said.
Originally published at Pen 18
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