Zadig & Voltaire unveils first unisex collection

French contemporary luxury label Zadig & Voltaire, whose style has always had an androgynous feel, has launched this autumn its first unisex capsule collection, making an emphatic entrance in the genderless, or gender-fluid, arena, characterised by a fashion free from the constraints imposed by binary modes and gender stereotypes.

Until now, the bold label founded in 1997 by Thierry Gillier – grandson of Lacoste‘s co-founder André Gillier – had been characterised by a rocker-style, hip kind of womenswear (exemplified by its airy dresses and lace-trimmed tops), alongside a menswear line that was relaunched in New York in 2019, featuring mostly t-shirts and slogan-decorated hoodies.

Wrinkled leather blazers and cashmere sweaters 

This autumn, Zadig & Voltaire, led by creative director Cecilia Bönström, has developed a new unisex collection, blending the aesthetic codes of womenswear and menswear. This genderless ready-to-wear line, a logical extension of Zadig & Voltaire’s heritage, consists of some 40 items in the label’s typical colour palette. 

The line includes an oversize blazer in wrinkled leather, a touch grungy, called ‘Valfried’ and priced at €745; cream-coloured sweaters with a vintage, worn feel, featuring a dark, star-shaped intarsia design; soft mouse-grey cashmere sweaters; straight-cut washed jeans decorated with rhinestones, priced at €495; open-work sweaters in the style of fishnet tights; and shearling jackets dyed navy blue, priced at €1,495.

Eleven of the collection’s 40 looks have been picked for the ad campaign, lensed by photographer Larissa Hofmann. The campaign is fronted by British top model Kit Jones and US model Effie Steinberg, wearing jet-black cardigans decorated with silvery sequins, and trousers with biker-style leather patches.

Zadig & Voltaire’s unisex collection is available on the label’s e-shop and at its monobrand stores, including the flagship in rue Cambon, Paris, and the stores in London and Copenhagen.