Zadig & Voltaire

The rising small French brand

It's impossible to mention Zadig et Voltaire without immediately thinking of that slightly rock'n'roll, slightly disheveled Parisian woman, free and smiling, whom we see at cafe terraces. The brand has always aimed to claim itself as liberated from the too conventional codes of ready-to-wear, with offbeat and assertive style proposals. And this, since its creation in 1997 by Thierry Gillier, who had good pedigree, being the nephew of the co-founder of the Lacoste empire.

His inspiration? As its name suggests, the whimsical Zadig, a character from the fiction Zadig or the Book of Fate, whom Voltaire had imagined as the archetype of the bird that cannot be caged, imbued with dreams, wanderlust, and an extraordinary destiny. Initially intended for women, the brand, immediately identifiable by its abundant use of cashmere, eventually opened up to men and then children. Thus was born the "Zadig couple", emblem of a Parisian life at two hundred miles an hour, between the Left Bank and trendy neighborhoods. Zadig et Voltaire perfumes are in this image: young, unusual, and spiced up by the spirit of the night...

More than brand ambassadors, muses

Zadig & Voltaire stands out for never having changed its approach throughout its success. For the brand's creator, more than brand ambassadors, they are true muses who proudly represent its colors, inspiring as much as they are inspired. Thus, they have been succeeded by the sublime Eastern European top model Eva Herzigova, known for her strong character, and the very London-based and assertive Kate Moss, a symbol of decadence if ever there was one. Bold, sexy, a bit casual and totally free, such is the Zadig & Voltaire woman, in the image of other celebrities who have also contributed to the brand's success: Josephine Le Tutour, Bella Hadid and Hailey Baldwin.