Zaid on His. . .

Mission “I want women to feel dressed up but not pompous.”

Design Process “I’m inspired by pure principles of form. I don’t have embellishments, which are designed

as an applied layer as opposed to the form itself.”

Career choice “My father is an architect; that’s what I wanted to be, but he said: ‘You’ll study for seven years and you won’t make any money. Don’t do it!’ I went to Central Saint Martins to study painting and fine arts, but I did some fashion photography and discovered I liked fashion.”

Inspiration “I admire the cleanliness of Mies van der Rohe and the folding curves of Frank Gehry.”

Muses “Tilda [Swinton] and Cate [Blanchett] are my dream clients. They’re smart, elegant

and sophisticated. They’re good at what they do—they’re

not just celebrities.” n