"From a child, I was surrounded by creativity, craft and nature. My mother made all our clothes, which definitely had a huge influence on me. I always had the appetite to create, and fashion was the natural playground for me to express myself."
Words by Leigh Maynard.
Hanna at The Squad Management photographed by Morgan Shaw. Styled by Ashley Conor.
Make-up by Emily Engleman. Hair by Takumi Horiwaki using Windle Lab London.
It was her mother's determination to fill the house with love and joy despite the surrounding conflicts of the Gulf War that changed Naza Yousefi’s perspective. Born in Tehran, Iran, in one of the country's most unsettling periods, this optimism amidst adversity instilled a different view of the world in the founder, CEO and creative director. One where she would prize every moment and take every challenge as a means for growth, resourcefulness, and improvisation. Naza's mother passed down this sensibility in an environment where materials were scarce, skilfully crafting her daughter’s childhood dresses from Naza’s drawings, and it was in these impressionable moments, that her love of the creative process began.
A course in fashion naturally followed as the fledgeling designer moved to London to study fashion and completed her post-graduate degree at Central Saint Martins in 2008. She then worked with some of the industry's most respected design houses, such as Giles Deacon, Richard Nicoll, Christopher Shannon, and Christopher Kane, which offered her invaluable experience in the ready-to-wear sphere whilst shaping her design language. However, it was when working to create leather pieces for editorials with designers such as Hedi Slimane that Naza’s career took its most prominent turn. Fascinated by the material's versatility, her creations became the catalyst for the inception of Yuzefi, her eponymous brand, with its name derived from the alternative spelling of Naza's surname. "For as long as I have worked in the fashion industry, I had the vision to have my own brand, but I really took the leap in 2015. My background was in ready-to-wear, but I knew this category was difficult to break into. Then, from collaborating with stylists and working on editorials, I fell in love with leather and handbags. Seeing the endless possibilities and how much fun you could have opened my eyes. Having gone into this with no training or no technical understanding, I had to think of innovative ways to construct the bags. That's when I started playing with the material, using the leather almost like a dough, which is reflected in what you see today and what I would say is the Yuzefi signature; folds, curves and manipulations of leather to create abstract products with an organic feel."
It was amid the pandemic that the brand entered our consciousness. Designs like the Pretzel, with its tongue-in-cheek knotted handle, entered our Instagram feeds and immediately made it onto our most-wanted lists. Once we were free to purchase and explore again, these little bags, with their compact designs that were big on style in a range of bold and neutral palettes, became the perfect day-to-night companions. Characterised by their small but perfectly formed sculptural aesthetic with surrealist elements, the designs are infused with Naza’s love of art, sculpture, architecture, travel, and people. She loves to observe and imagine stories about their lives, she says, and every bag has been developed to encourage the wearer’s own sense of adventure and real-world experience. The name has become synonymous with beautiful craftsmanship with playful yet responsible design codes and realistic luxury price points. It’s a clear understanding of her materials, honed since Yuzefi’s launch, that has enabled Naza to offer her bags at affordable prices, and this, as well as her clever timeless yet contemporary aesthetic, are some of the many reasons why Yuzefi stands out against its competitors.
Perhaps it’s her continuing desire to improve and innovate that ensures the brand maintains its market position whilst bringing joy to those who wear it. Though she has achieved much in a few short years and through some challenging periods, like all talented designers, Naza says she enjoys the variety that each day brings, with a clear understanding that there is still much to master. “My days are extremely diverse, but the bulk of my time is taken designing the collections from top to bottom, which is incredibly rewarding, very exhausting and a constant learning process.” It’s this desire for continuous change and growth that inspired Naza to develop the brand further, including a ready-to-wear collection, which she showcased at London Fashion Week for SS23. Launched in celebration of London life returning to normality, Naza explains that it was always on her mind to eventually branch out beyond bags and accessories, and, with a background in this sphere of fashion, it was a natural progression. Her first collection centred on classic tailoring underpinned by utilitarianism, with some statement pieces to lend an edge. Those sculptural features that make her bags so distinctive are present in the garments, and, as with past collections, Yuzefi has maintained its mindful approach to sustainable design. Clothes are carefully constructed in vegan leather and responsibly sourced silks with wool and linens derived from deadstock. "I learnt so much with creating handbags that I wanted to replicate the Yuzefi flavour into ready-to-wear. It gives me so much room to experiment with a plethora of ideas. So far, it's been a journey, and it is still early days. I'm finding it inspiring, eye-opening and challenging all at the same time, which I am embracing every moment of."
Naza says that one of the critical components to success is maintaining a singular vision and understanding that, whilst others may appear to have a clear strategy, this may not be true. One of the crucial elements of her plan was her early adoption of technology for marketing the company, and one of her favourite pieces of advice comes from a most unusual of sources. "The best advice I have ever had, and this wasn't given to me directly, but a quote from Ricky Gervais,' No one else knows what they're doing either.’ Having started a business with no idea how actually to play into my favour, there was no playbook that I used. In the early days, I was one of the first to use social media and influencers when most big brands hadn't bought into the idea yet. This was an amazing platform for Yuzefi, giving the brand great exposure in a saturated market."
While her dynamic approach to design and marketing reflects the resourcefulness she learned in her formative years, she explains that some of her earliest campaigns still resonate the most. "I love the assets we created in the early days when the brand was in its infancy. They were so simple, approachable, innocent, and playful. As you become more established, you feel the need to invest more in image creation, but to connect with our community, I found it's this pure and naive imagery that has the most impact. I look back fondly at them, and it's been an awakening moment to go back to basics. It's interesting. I see so much of this imagery used now, and it gives me a sense of pride, having been one of the first brands to champion it." It appears Naza is a designer who has a clear vision for the progression of her brand, one that is careful to consider and nurture her relationship with her loyal community, who no doubt loves the affordability of such well-constructed garments and bags as much as their playful details. While changes resulting from Brexit, the pandemic and recent economic shifts have put pressure on many industries, including fashion, she is optimistic about her industry and the artistic opportunities it affords her, while she also embraces its challenges. However, she feels there is still room for improvement, and she would like to see more schedule fluidity to empower and enable designers to better manoeuvre the supply chain. "It’s the creative freedom the industry gives, the opportunity to express, explore and evolve, but the challenge of navigating through the restrictions is super rewarding. What I'd like to see change is the fashion calendar. It has forever been difficult for brands to keep up, which causes production issues and delays."
While her ready-to-wear collection re-introduced signature styles as ‘classics’ and offered new symbols, shapes, and textures, Naza says she is excited to continue to explore new areas and expand on the brand’s success. Coming up, she says there will be new categories, and she's excited about some of the latest products and collaborations that will come this year. As she sits and reviews her work, she must feel proud of all she has achieved and how far she has come since she navigated the challenges of her war-torn homeland. She demonstrates that some of the best creativity really is born from and can flourish through the most challenging of experiences and through determination, imagination, hard work and innovation. While those little elements like the ties on the pretzel bag continue to put a smile on her customers’ faces, they also spread that same joyful optimism instilled back in Tehran by her most industrious and remarkable mother.
Discover this piece inside the Persia Chapter at The Silk Road Issue 12
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