Sculptural Headwear for Earthlings by Jasmin Zorlu: A chance meeting in Zurich

Monday, July 11, 2011

A chance meeting in Zurich

There was a time in my life when I fulfilled my life long dream to live in France. I had been living in New York City during September 11th, and really needed a break. It broke my heart to hear New Yorkers talking about the tragedy every single day for 2 years.

When Barney's bought my collection of freeform fur felt cloches in 2003, I suddenly received an onslaught of orders from other boutiques. With the money I made, I went to Paris for 6 months for inspiration and rejuvenation. And boy did I have fun! I took mini breaks to other places like Antwerp and Zurich. During Christmas break of 2003, I went to Zurich to check things out. I stayed with a friend for a week. I found that the street fashion there was infinitely more interesting than what I had been seeing in Paris. I found people in Zurich to be super friendly, warm-hearted, and fun.

Have you ever heard that you know you're on the right path in life when chance coincidences happen unexpectedly? You may call it synchronicity or serendipity, but when it happens, it can blow your mind! So one day during my one week stay in Zurich, I went searching for a hat shop which I had heard about online. I spotted a stylishly dressed attractive woman and went up to her to ask directions, in English. Although I speak elementary German, the only word I found that I could understand in Zurich was 'Ja' (yes). Swiss German sounds totally different from High German. It turned out that she was American, from California! I proceeded to tell her that I was interested in finding the hat shop because I was a hat designer as well. It was closed, unfortunately. I whipped out my mini-portfolio to show her my hats, and she said, "I think I have one of your hats!" I screamed right there in the square, "No way! Really?". She then told me where her friend had purchased it and what it looked like. "Oh yes! That is indeed my creation!". Can you imagine my surprise? My heart started beating wildly and I think I even started sweating with excitement.

Zurich hat shop photo courtesy of LeChatBleu on Flickr

So fast forward to June 2011....Wendy and I had lost touch all these years and recently she befriended me on Facebook. On June 25th, she came to a trunk show I had in Berkeley, at Rue Atelier. And guess what? She brought the hat in question! She also bought a pink silk organza silk brimmed hat, as seen below. Isn't she simply delightful in it?