Inspired by bold aesthetics and challenging themes, Julian Zigerli spends his days carefully orchestrating a fashion revolution from his Zurich-based studio. His mission is to inject some fun back into design and spark a new interest towards luxe sportswear αnd so far he seems to be doing a damn fine job. His many achievements include a Swiss Design Award, multiple features in every press worth reading and a personal invitation to showcase his collection in Milan during Fashion Week, from Giorgio Armani himself. In an exclusive interview, Julian Zigerli talks to CHASSEUR about pushing boundaries in one of the toughest fashion scenes, bringing visual arts into the creative process and reaching a new level of maturity.
Going back to your teenage years in Switzerland, what did fashion mean to you?
I began experimenting with personal style, a lot, after my first ever longer visit in London. I did an internship there, when I turned 18, and that really changed my life. I was always interested in fashion but never able to grasp it. I don’t think I had many ideas about it, at that age, but I sure knew that it felt good to express yourself through it.
Success has been following you even from a very early point in your career. Out of all the amazing moments/opportunities you had so far, which one would you consider to be the real ‘game changer’ with regards to your career?
The very first moment that made me realise that this was going somewhere, was at my first showroom on my very first day when I had a shop from Hong Kong putting down a big order. After they left, I couldn’t believe it and had to call my mum right away. That really was the starting point of my career and what showed me that everything is real. Another huge highlight of my very young career was the invitation by Giorgio Armani to show my collection during Milan Fashion Week. That was definitely another big step for the brand.
As one of the lucky attendees of that show, I remember just how excited I was to see a collection, so radical and bold in nature. Do you find that your label, during the past few seasons, has managed to turn the tide with regards to the acceptance of new designers and ideas into the somewhat more conservative Italian scene?
Italy has been good to me but if I’m being honest, it really has been a bit of a fight to push boundaries in Milan. In my opinion this has to do more with the city’s long history in fashion. Sometimes there are certain things you just cannot change but that is also the exciting part about it because that way you get the opportunity to showcase just how playful you can get while working on classic styles. In the end, JULIAN ZIGERLI will stay true to itself no matter where we present.
Despite being a menswear designer, your work is noted for its strong gender-neutral approach to design. Do you see yourself producing a full womenswear range sometime in the future?
I never design with the intention of unisex clothing– if anything, I always have a guy in mind during the creative process. In my opinion, the use of bold prints and colours, is what makes them so appealing for women too. In any case, we did just launch a diffusion line that has a non seasonal approach and is based on a unisex concept but that’s about it with designing for the girls. A womenswear line just wouldn’t have the same quality and strength of our menswear.
A collaborative label at heart, JULIAN ZIGERLI has seen the involvement of many people including the likes of Katharina Grosse, The Golgotha and more recently photography duo Rico and Michael. Based on what criteria do you choose your creative counterparts for each line and how key do you consider them to be at your work?
That is a very organic process. For example, when I started with the SS14 line, I didn’t even know who Katharina Grosse was. Her work was one of the first inspiration pictures for the collection and in the end I somehow managed to collaborate with her. I like to meet the artists halfway and use their specific aesthetics for the lines. After all, that is what a collaboration is all about. Both sides should have a mutual influence on each other. Of course, most aspects of the work never really leave my hands but I do try to get as much input as possible.
Which medium do you find that it can best deliver what JULIAN ZIGERLI stands for?
You need them all and each has its own strength. It’s also what gives you the most joy- to discover different ways of using them in order to translate the collection best. For me, I think that film is one of the best mediums to achieve that.
Moving on from aesthetics to narrative; you enjoy creating scenarios around which your collections can develop. For example your AW15 offering, entitled “Point Fingers and Call Names” seems to toy with the idea of celebrity culture. What inspired you to explore this theme?
That really has to do a lot with the collaboration I did with Rico and Michael. I had this urge to create something ‘luxurious’ and to be more specific, something that would use the aesthetics of luxury as a concept. What better reference than the celebrity world. Rico and Michael have a strong link to it and like to use exactly those kinds of things for their work. So they pretty much influenced me from the start and I also knew that the time had come to finally work with them as we have been friends for a while now.
Your new line saw a slightly different approach to design with most pieces feeling a lot more tailored and slightly less ‘flamboyant’. Even colours are inspired by a darker palette with but a few exceptions. Should we assume that JULIAN ZIGERLI is reaching a new level of maturity that shows the way to a different direction?
Yes indeed. I never really work with dark references but this season I got a lot of inspiration out of black. It has never been a strong colour for me but I guess it was time. Never the less, the more tailored approach has always been a part of the line. In the end, it is the total look which makes it seem more tailored and the new shoes we created, added a lot to that. Also this is one of the great things about growing up- the collections get bigger and you have more space for diversity. Now, we want to show the world that we are not just all about prints and colours.
Finally, could you give us a hint on what’s to come?
Just follow the white rabbit.
As featured in Chasseur issue #10 – LOVE ALONE (SS15)
Julian Zigerli SS15 Collection photographed exclusively for Chasseur
Photography | Simone Lorusso
Art direction | Simone Rutigliano
Styling | Serena Pompei
Hair | Emanuela Caricato
Make up | Giulia Gaia Matarazzo
Model | Marck Torri @ FASHION