Babesta Beat AW18

NICI ZINELL, THE DESIGNER BEHIND THE BERLIN-BASED COLLECTION TELLS US HER STORY, HER INSPIRATIONS AND WHAT SHE LOOKS FORWARD TO FOR AW18. Noé&Zoë chatting with

F ernweh is the short answer for the inspiration behind Berlin-based brand Noé & Zoë for this fall/winter season. For those who don’t speak German, that translates to “an ache for distant places; the craving for travel.” If you have jetsetting, wayfinding or pond-hopping in your heart, this collection hits all the right notes. Says designer Nici Zinell, it consists of “bold primaries mixed with lovely pastels and irregular spots of blush, lavender, cherry, emerald and cobalt.” All this is mixed with signature stars and stripes that brand aficionados look forward to each season. The multicultural inspiration is no surprise from Zinell who grew up in Austria, Germany, Morocco and the US. She says her mom worked as a costume designer and aunt owned two fashion retail shops, laying the groundwork for Zinell’s later fashion career (and for her “pretty wild” sense of style). “I was around clothes and fashion all the time,” she says. Zinell studied fashion design and went on to follow her mother’s footsteps as a costume designer and a stylist before launching her own childrenswear line. “It all started when I had been sewing toys and homewear for my second-born and people started asking if I could make them some too. As the requests increased it was the right moment to launch Noé & Zoë. My husband strongly encouraged me to try it, so I wouldn’t look back and think ‘what if. . .’”

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babesta beat autumn/winter 2018