New York Fashion Week usually encapsulates bedlam, but for one French label, it’s very very different. An hour before the Zadig & Voltaire’s runway show, models, dressers, hair and makeup stylists were still prepping to make sure the show ran smoothly.
“I’m a perfectionist,” said Cecilia Bönström, 47, the brand’s artistic director. “Even though I have a creative job, I like everything to be really clear; I like to follow a schedule.”
Zasig & Voltaire is a French brand that prides itself on offering styles that are filled with streetwise edge and easiness.
“This season, my message is to confirm that Zadig & Voltaire is the contemporary rock ‘n’ roll brand,” Bönström explained. “For me, the girls are very delicate but, at the same time, very rock. There are a lot of legs, a lot of skin. There are leather and knitwear with perfect, sexy cocktail dresses.”
This year, Zadig & Voltaire is celebrating its 20th anniversary, a benchmark that is rarely ever achieved, especially in luxury fashion. With fashion fluctuating now that more of the spending habits have shifted, many labels are struggling to keep a grip on the fashion world. The reason Zadig & Voltaire’s does so well is that even when there are trends coming and going, the company sticks to its core aesthetic and value, something the label’s founder, Thierry Gillier, learned very early on:
“When I came to America, on Madison Avenue, it was very difficult. Everything was more classic than what we were showing. Slowly, that changed. The look today is very inspired by the street. For me, it was obvious that the fashion business would change. The clothes were very stiff and rigid, and I wanted to make it more relaxed.”
