ZSADAR - Let’s Hear It For The Boys

When it comes to Australian designer fashion, ladies are spoilt for choice with labels and boutiques a’plenty, but it seems stylish gents don’t have it quite so easy.
Frustrated by a lack of high quality Australian designer menswear available for chaps such as himself, Perth lad Shane Newton abandoned his flourishing career in public relations back in 2010 to pursue life as a fashion designer and since launching his own label, Zsadar (pronounced sha-dar), the emerging designer has gone from strength to strength.
“When I left school I did graphic design at TAFE,” Newton begins when asked about his background. “I wanted to be a designer, well at least that’s what I thought I wanted to do, but I did that for a year and decided it wasn’t something I could see myself doing for the rest of my life. I ended up doing Public Relations and Media Studies at ECU then did an honors degree in PR, which was great, I loved it. After that I got a full time job in PR and it came to a point where I felt like there was a lack of variety in Australian designer menswear, so I decided to give it a go and see what happened. It was one of those tipping point moments where I thought ‘if I don’t do this now I’ll never do it’. So I gave it a go. I’d always loved fashion but found it difficult to find Australian made, locally designer menswear.”
Establishing a label without any formal training hasn’t been an easy process for Newton, but the designer has triumphed regardless, and he says that with every collection the process becomes easier.
“I don’t have a technical fashion background so I work with pattern makers. I sketch all of the garments and then my pattern maker interprets that. I do all the choosing of fabrics and the look and feel of the whole collection, themes, colours, etc. I first and foremost design for myself. Every garment I make is something that I want to wear. It’s a bit self indulgent really!”
Self indulgent or not, Zsadar has gained a huge following since debuting at StyleAid a few years back, appealing to men who like their clothes monochromatic, minimalist and executed with the finest eco-friendly fabrics available.
“The main thing I think about is the quality, especially when it comes to choice of fabric – I search all over the place to find high quality, organic fabrics (they feel so good on the skin),” Newton explains of his design priorities. “My next collection has 100 per cent silk pants for guys – I’ve never been able to find silk for men in Australia. It’s not silk that has that stereotypical glossy sheen, this is matte, it’s like a tweed. I make sure that I have really beautiful fabrics – I’m also using bamboo fabric. It’s a lot more sustainable than cotton – it grows so fast, so it’s easy to produce and manufacture. I try to pick things that have a great feel on the skin.”
Entitled Minimalia, Zsadar’s soon-to-be-released Autumn/Winter 2012 collection is a chic, refined and stylish affair, executed with Newton’s favourite monochromatic tones.
“I love the classic nature of monochromatic colours. I love a muted palette because it can transcend seasons, although black can be hard to pull of in 40 degree heat,” he says with a chuckle on a particularly hot Perth day. “Generally speaking, muted tones make people look good – everyone looks good in black whereas your brighter colours are trickier to pull off.”
Though he’s never considered designing clothes specifically for women, it seems that there are lots of ladies who love Zsadar and are happy to rock menswear.
“I’ve never really thought about womenswear to be honest. A lot of people say to me that I should give womenswear a go. It’s interesting that a lot of the designs for the Creature And The Mirror collection have been bought by women. That wasn’t intentional – the idea behind creating an androgynous collection was not there – I just made things I wanted to wear and it just so happened that because they were so minimalist, they could transcend gender, which is awesome! I like the idea of me thinking I’m designing menswear then girls saying ‘I really want to wear that’.”
Zsadar collections are available for purchase online at zsadar.com.
As a special treat for X-Press readers, Zsadar is giving away a staple curve seam t-shirt valued at $125. Made in Australia using beautiful stretch jersey which is comfortable and soft, the tee has a raw scoop neck. To be in the draw simply like Zsadar’s Facebook page then email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with ‘Zsadar’ in the subject line.

_EMMA BERGMEIER