Fashion for minorities who don’t want to conform to the norm. This is the design approach from Swiss fashion designer Yannik Zamboni. With this recipe, the designer is now winning the US reality show “Making The Cut” on Prime Video. “It feels extremely unreal. I took part in a show that I didn’t know before and now I’ve won it, »says Zamboni to 20 minutes lifestyle.
The show, which will be hosted by model Heidi Klum and fashion consultant and TV personality Tim Gunn, aims to provide a platform for young fashion designers. Winner Yannik Zamboni will now receive $1 million to invest in his Maison Blanche brand, as well as a mentorship with Amazon Fashion. A milestone for the designer: “After graduating, I applied for funding from a number of associations and funding institutions and was turned down eight times.” His ninth attempt to popularize Maison Blanche was the TV show Making the Cut. “And now I have a million available that I can invest in my business – that’s pretty crazy.”
In addition to the prize money and the mentorship, Zamboni is launching the co-brand rare/self together with Amazon Fashion, which dispenses with gender classification and traditional clothing sizes.
“Creating this co-brand with Amazon Fashion was something very special for me,” says the Basel fashion designer. «Not only because it shows my passion for fashion that is conceptual in design and at the same time takes into account the environmental aspects of design decisions. But also because it offers a more inclusive shopping experience in terms of size and gender norms in the industry.»
Fashion designer Yannik Zamboni grew up in Böckten, a small village in the Upper Basel region. Later Yannik worked as a model and in marketing.
The Basel designer Yannik Zamboni wins the US reality show “Making The Cut”.
Yannik Zamboni
The 35-year-old earned a bachelor’s degree in fashion design from the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) and passed the professional examination to become a fashion specialist at the STF Swiss Textile College in Zurich.
Instead of traditional sizes, rare/self garments are divided into gender-neutral sizes from one to eight. The looks are made of certified cotton. The rare/self pieces as well as the runway collections from the finale of «Making The Cut» will be available on Friday, September 9th Amazon Fashion can be pre-ordered.
In an interview with 20 Minuten Lifestyle, the Basel native revealed before the show that he was nervous about criticism from jury member Nicole Richie. “I was afraid of their feedback. She’s known for the glamorous Hollywood style, I’m more concerned with conceptual, deconstructed anti-fashion », apparently it sparked. “When the choice of winner was unanimous and Nicole, Jeremy and Heidi all saw me as the winner, it made me very emotional. I couldn’t and didn’t want to hold back one or two tears of joy.”
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