Fashion can be more than just beautiful clothes. With the T-shirt slogan “Girls can do anything”, Zadig et Voltaire head designer Cecilia Bönström turns fashion into a message, which she carries further with the perfume of the same name.
FACES: It wasn’t so long ago that we met in Paris to discover the first fragrances from Zadig et Voltaire.
Cecilia Bönström: There were so many journalists there at the time, it was crazy! And the fragrances “This is him” and “This is her” were so well received, even in Sweden and Russia, which really surprised me, because after all, there are so many luxury labels that launch their own fragrances, and Zadig et Voltaire is more of a label that celebrates the moment.
F: So you were very surprised by this success?
CB: Yes, because I always try to keep my expectations low and not have any ideas about success. When I’m working, I try to concentrate on that and not think about the result.
F: So you always assume the worst?
CB: (laughs) No, I wouldn’t put it like that. I live in the moment – whether it’s developing a new collection or a fragrance or spending time with my children or doing sport. I am convinced that you should worry much less and that it is better not to worry so much in advance.
F: And even when you’re so busy, you still find the time to launch a new perfume.
CB: To achieve this, the team has to be right. It’s about generating positive energy together – everyone has to pull in the same direction. But teamwork can also be a vicious circle: bad energy multiplies just as much as positive energy. Fortunately, I can count on great people who make me believe in myself. Our partner Shiseido also went to great lengths to get to know Zadig et Voltaire properly, to look at our collections and to understand our philosophy. That’s why they chose Quentin Bisch as their perfumer, who brings masculinity and femininity together in the bottle and dares to do something instead of taking the easy route. There is a big difference between designing fashion and perfumes. Collections are tangible, fragrances are abstract.
F: The fragrance is called “Girls can do anything” – how did that come about?
CB: The same slogan can be found on one of our T-shirts from a previous collection, about a year and a half ago. This project blew everyone away back then, the slogan was simply perfect.
F: Why is it so important today to support and empower women?
CB: It only takes one person to dare to say something, and that enthusiasm spreads to the next. We showed this T-shirt with the slogan “Girls can do anything” on the catwalk a year and a half ago without expecting the impact it actually had. It was intuition, a positive message that we wanted to get out into the world, a reminder that women really can achieve anything they set their minds to. Of course, this movement has always existed, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to vote, work or dress the way we do today. Because other women have done the work for us, have stood up and demanded equal rights – and we have forgotten that. We should be grateful that we can live with the results that others have created for us. After all, there are still so many countries where women are second-class citizens. In Pakistan, 70 percent of all girls don’t even go to school, that’s terrible! We, on the other hand, have freedoms today that others still dream of, and that is precisely why it is so important to stand up for all women.
F: The gender debate is certainly an issue that fashion needs to address. Sustainability is another. Do we even need fast fashion?
CB: No, definitely not. Zadig et Voltaire has a very different approach to many other labels. When I look at large corporations that continue to produce more and more, I wonder who is supposed to pay for it all and what impact this overproduction has on the environment. But this change doesn’t just affect fashion, we consume far too much in general. We are incredibly spoiled. How will this end? I have no answer. But I’m trying to do better on a small scale. I switch off the lights when I don’t need them, I use the same towels several times in the hotel, I take my own shopping bag with me and avoid plastic bags, I walk instead of taking a cab.
F: Do you feel like fashion is dealing with this as well?
CB: I have a lot of meetings that revolve around precisely this issue. The industry knows that it has to do something. We must take care of our planet.
F: “Girls can do anything” reeks of self-confidence and energy. How would you describe the smell of your home?
CB: Clean, like soap maybe, the way babies smell. This is an equally important part of our own fragrances, because I want to convey a bit of this coziness and feeling of being at home in the scents of Zadig et Voltaire.
F: There are so many problems in the world, without wanting to be theatrical. How do you educate your children?
CB: Values are very important to me, that is perhaps something that is based on my Swedish roots. When my kids get a pair of sneakers, they wear them until they fall apart. When I bring them T-shirts from our collection, they put them on until they are too small for them. Quality comes before quantity – I want you to understand that. I’m raising three boys, future men who should value women, that’s my mission.
F: “Boys can do anything” – maybe we can hope for another perfume soon?
CB: That would be possible, women and men are like a battery, plus and minus, we need each other. The T-shirt for men is already available, so why not the accompanying fragrance soon?