Handmade swimwear from Zurich: Mira and Ivon Blazevic on their label Volans
26.6.2023
Translation: machine translated
Pictures: Christian Walker
Fate, luck, courage and talent: Mira and Ivon Blazevic are passionate about creating swimwear in Zurich. I visited the mother-daughter duo in their studio and learnt about the many advantages of good, old-fashioned craftsmanship.
The small studio of Volans near Altstetten railway station in Zurich's Kreis 9 district is a little hidden. As is the case with treasures - they need to be found first. Fortunately, the treasure map is available directly on the website, so I arrive on time for our appointment on a sunny Friday morning. Mira Blazevic and her daughter Ivon welcome me on the first floor of the Fogo container estate. While I'm still being offered croissants, coffee and water, I feel as comfortable as if I've been here umpteen times to talk to them about their swimwear collection. There is no fear of contact, nor is there any frowning. Mira, clearly the creative beating heart of the brand, wants to stay a little in the background. Ivon, the brains and mouthpiece, is bubbling over with enthusiasm and passion for the common cause:
Source: Volans
Source: Christian Walker
"My mum has been making swimwear for over 40 years! She came to Switzerland from Croatia to train as a seamstress at Calida. She later learnt tailoring and eventually ran the Lahco swimwear studio for 20 years. She has practically had a handful of professions at once - seamstress, tailor, designer, pattern maker, ...". "I still do everything by hand," the in-house wonder and all-purpose weapon then joins in the conversation. "After I've designed something, everything is tried on, worked out and I draw the ready-to-cut design at home on special paper, which we send to Croatia. There, the patterns just have to be placed on the fabric."
Source: Christian Walker
Mira was 20 years old when her school was looking for junior seamstresses for the Calida headquarters in Sursee, Lucerne. Together with two friends, she moved to Switzerland. Such fateful opportunities and the courage to seize them run like a red thread through the history of the mother-daughter duo: the founding of their joint label in 2018, as well as the lightning-fast response to a vacancy in the Globus range in the same year, also fall into this category.
Handicraftsmanship and the courage to seize opportunities.
Handcraft and attention to detail
Of course, I want to know how her carefully and lovingly crafted swimming costumes and bikinis differ from mass-produced off-the-peg items. "Of course machines do a great job. But in the computer, for example, each design is simply scaled by a few per cent in length and width for each size. Of course, not every item can fit perfectly this way," explains Ivon. "My mum does everything by hand for each model and takes measurements. We have a separate pattern for every single size and every design. Sometimes it needs a little more or less fabric in the neckline, sometimes at the back, sometimes the leg cut-out needs to be adjusted. That's what makes us unique: the fit is always excellent. We can also respond to feedback from our customers and adapt the models to their wishes if necessary."
According to Ivon, you can easily do without lining, underwiring and boning if the quality of the material and the cut are right. "If an underwire doesn't sit perfectly under the bust, it will only cause you trouble. We use shaping fabrics, the right seams, pleats and gathers to create the best possible silhouette. You can also wear our swimming costumes for sports or as a bodysuit - for example now during the festival season."
The designs perfected by Mira are produced where she has her roots, in Croatia. By women who master the craft just as well as she does. The short delivery routes and the opportunity to easily visit the production facility three to four times a year were decisive criteria for mother and daughter. They source their fabrics from Italy. "I wouldn't have done it any other way. Short distances and good personal relationships were my requirements," says Ivon.
Of evening dresses and flying fish
If you ask Mira where she still gets her ideas from after around 40 years, she reveals that she often draws while watching films or is inspired by evening dresses. Once a design is on paper and wants to be sewn, she still relies on a machine that is over 60 years old, which she worked on back in her Lahco days. That it might give up the ghost one day? Not an option.
And apart from the Volans label? How else can I recognise high-quality swimwear? "I would always choose polyamide over polyester. And there has to be enough elastane, ideally the pieces have three-dimensional stretch."
Source: Christian Walker
"You can often recognise stability, density and cut by the way a model hangs on the hanger." When it comes to longevity and care, Ivon tells me to invest in good quality materials, to avoid fabric softener when washing and generally not to put the delicate items in the machine too often and, if so, at a maximum of 30 degrees. Too frequent washing and chlorine would make the elastane brittle - so it's best to rinse by hand in cold water after each use. This is noted. And then there's really only one question left before I make my way back home - still with a bite of croissant in my hand, there was just so much to talk about. Why Volans? "Volans is a constellation in the southern sky and means 'flying fish'. Stars, fish, water - we liked it straight away and we still love the name."
Laura Scholz
Senior Editor
Laura.Scholz@digitecgalaxus.chAlways in the mood for good hits, great trips and clinking drinks.
Fashion
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