»Over time, a real ZAAZ community has formed, which we are particularly proud of.«

I had always made my own clothes on the side, or had them made for me, because I rarely found anything that I really liked. In 2018, when I deliberately took a short break from the production world , Ada asked me if I could design clothes for her that would be both comfortable and presentable as she was traveling back and forth for shoots. She wanted to be able to go straight from the trip to the meeting without having to change.

With this brief, I had something that was tailored to her vision, and she was so excited that she suggested we start a fashion label together. We also shared at the same time the disappointment of seeing our favourite designers having their collections made in China with synthetic fabrics. That the objection we didn’t really know anything about the business faded away in our shared enthusiasm for the idea itself and then we were off and running. That was the story of how ZAAZ came about.

We initially carried out tests in 2019 and started with trouser suits and blouses. Everyone around us was immediately enthusiastic and this feedback naturally gave us an extra boost. Right at the beginning, we started buying up fabric remnants from exclusive designers because we wanted to build a fashion brand with a sustainable DNA. After a short break during the pandemic, we really got going again in 2022 and gradually built up ZAAZ.

We are film producers by nature, research is one of our core competences. Who, if not us, can do that (laughs)?!

This is the who’s who of designers. From Stella McCartney to Pucci to Prada, there’s nothing that doesn’t exist. But at the end of the day, we don’t buy based on the names, but solely on whether we like it and whether it suits our style.

We have found a pattern maker with whom we have developed our collection together. It starts with several prototypes, and these are turned into a so-called “sample”, which allows you to see whether the respective cut falls and fits well. We simply experimented a lot at the beginning and still do this very consciously and with great pleasure.

On the one hand, we have the caftan as our signature cut and, on the other, the blouse and trousers combination with which we have quickly made a name for ourselves. All other pieces vary, especially when it comes to the seasons. For winter, for example, we design a lot of trousers and blouses, the caftan and a coat. In summer, we concentrate on dresses and again the caftan.

Ada is the one who has a keen sense for the right cuts, and I take care of most of the fabric selection. To do this, I regularly travel to Italy near Florence, visit these huge halls full of bales of fabric and work my way through lots of these wonderful remnants to identify the right ones for ZAAZ.

Yes, we have built up a permanent team there that we can rely on 100%. We have two cutting masters and a cutting production department. We know and appreciate each other, and, unlike the big brands, we can react extremely quickly to our wishes or those of our customers.

The ZAAZ newsletter is our most important communication tool. However, we always keep a little fabric in reserve to see how demand develops. This gives us the flexibility to be able to fulfil requests for individual items in other cuts when fabrics are particularly popular.

Pop-ups work particularly well for us, which we organise on a regular basis and are present on site ourselves. We are often only present in the respective city once a year and realise how much our customers look forward to being able to buy directly and exchange ideas with us. Of course, this is a lot of fun and also gives us the opportunity to keep learning. Over time, a real ZAAZ community has formed, which we are particularly proud of.

More and more men are coming to us who are enthusiastic about our fabrics and styles and are becoming ZAAZ fans. Of course, we have to adapt the cuts to suit this, but we are delighted that our philosophy and design are also appealing to men. This also means that we will be consciously adding unisex pieces to our portfolio, such as sweatshirts. Incidentally, our sweatshirt pattern will soon also be available as a Kashmir edition.

The actress Caroline Peters, for example, is a very big fan. She just wrote the other day and asked when the next trouser suits will be ready. Carlo Ljubek, Danh Võ, Eva Lemke, Jasmin Shakeri and Anne Haug, for example, are also friends of our brand.

The USA is of course a market with a lot of potential and a lot of enthusiasm for our approach, which we recently experienced at a pop-up event in the Hamptons. We want to build on this and would of course be delighted to conquer the market even further. At the same time, we will also be represented with our pop-up on Mykonos in Soho House and also on Ibiza and are looking forward to the feedback from the local communities.