The Treasury 'Adina Hotels’ has been described as opulent. It is a befitting label given a century and a half after its creation, the heritage listed building served as the venue for our first runway show, A Sartorial Affair, which was rooted in the ideas of “sartoria”. Sartoria represents, to a certain extent, the pursuit of opulence. Yet opulence, at least in this sense, isn’t necessarily synonymous with extravagance.
Rather it represents a character trait of someone who does things for the sole reason that it can be done.
There is a strange sense of calm which comes from completing something which was months in the making. This comes with its own challenges, but importantly it gives us a ‘birds eye view’ of our intentions behind bringing you into our ZOBO world. It is for one simple reason - style is an artform which gleans its meaning and importance through sharing and collaboration. Our cap is made more interesting in the context of the ZOBO world, as is the case with all items of clothing. The runway is simply a muse rooted in juxtaposition, from which you can draw inspiration, and creatively incorporate into your own life.
The ambiguous term 'juxtaposition' comes up a lot as an adjective for our brand, and it is an adjective we advocate for. The brand is founded on the juxtaposition of characteristics, and our caps perfectly embody this. The acme, at the design stage, was a compatibility with tailoring — so we meddled with the skeleton of the cap until a sense of symbiosis was satisfied between two otherwise exclusive styling concepts. The focus on such minute details, such as length of brim or shallowness of cap can lead to accusations of triteness. But it is these very characteristics that ultimately impact the look when worn — and serve as the bedrock of compatibility with tailoring. At this point, we think we succeeded.
This is precisely why we held the runway in the Treasury Heritage Listed Tunnels; for its combination of grittiness and grandeur. The perfect backdrop for our show.
Our event collaborator, LaMilago, was founded by Master Tailor Milap Gohel, and is rooted in his years of tailoring experience. The tailoring, with vestiges of old school craftsmanship and a new age outlook, paired perfectly with ZOBO caps. On the models, the cohesion of the tailoring and caps was a strong indictment that our founding intention was met; truly a fortuitous pairing. It was a further coupling with Supper Club Society that added to the event. SCS, who possess a commitment to detail in event organisation, roped in many-a culinary connection that supported the runway and served a stellar after-party in the form of a three course degustation.
As far as events go, the day was a CMO’s blissful dream. Adelaide shone: blue clear skies with the mercury idling at 23 degrees. Following drinks and pleasantries was the roar of thumping 90’s RnB and modern UK hip hop in the tunnels, as our models stomped out in full show of force to a nearly sold-out fashion show. If ZOBO was a person, as we constantly envisage, they would have had a stellar night and enjoyed every minute. Even though the pride of the brands were in full-flight, sartoria was the real winner of the night.
Overall, our aim is to take you all on a path less trodden - a path where those who are truly stylish reject fashion crazes, in favor of quality and practical elegance. This year’s AFW runway show is one of the many times we will walk alongside you, to indulge in style, not fashion. In return, we ask that you wear your ZOBO items to death, share your own flair, and keep your eyes open for our next drops.
Stay tuned, and stay playful. There is a lot more to come from us.