If you relied on the internet to tell you what "Zazou" means, you might think:
It's a digital dragon-dog with a mullet
It's a French version of Toucan Sam.
It's a restaurant in Redondo Beach.
It's a cake.
It's a ... hmmm... I think a company that sells cyber-outfits for video game avatars? (Mine's a young lady with terrible self esteem and a migraine.)
The real definition of Zazou is actually rooted in reality.
This is the "Zazou" that inspired Zazou Scarves - our mission shaped by imagining what kind of accessories would tickle the fancies of these wild and crazy Zazous.
To better understand, indulge me in a brief history recap:
It's 1940s Nazi-occupied France: disenchanted youths begin meeting in cafes, mocking the ultra-conservative politics of the Vichy regime. Mostly concentrated in Paris, the Zazous were easily spotted by a peculiar style of dress.
Boy Zazou + Girl Zazou = Le Mischief
The boy Zazous wore coats to their knees with lots of pockets and leather belts. The outlandish extra material openly mocked the government's rationing on textiles. They wore suede shoes, carried grand, formal umbrellas and grew long, greasy hair.
The long hair was another snub to the government, which in 1942 issued a decree to collect hair from barber shops to make slippers. (Waste not, want not?)
The girl Zazous liked their hair blonde and their lipstick red. Their jackets were also oversized, but countered with short, pleated skirts.
Think Gwen Stefani as a rebellious school girl.
(With a long coat on.)
The Zazous loved Jazz and Swing - a burgeoning music scene in France at the time. In fact, their name - Zazous - probably came from lyrics from popular songs of these genres (A Johnny Hess song, "Je suis Swing," from 1942 had the line "Za zou, za zou, za zou, za zou ze.")
Other Zazou fun facts were that they reportedly congregated in vegetarian cafes and created a strong following for grated carrot salad.
Le yum.
They also laced their beer with grenadine syrup.
But then the Zazou story becomes not so fun. There were backlashes and beatings, surrounding - SURPRISE! - religion and politics.
The Zazous sympathized with the French Jews, who were forced to wear yellow stars of identification during the Nazi reign - and branded themselves with similar stars to show support.
The Zazous eventually went underground and - well, WW2 kicked into high gear and the world would never be the same.
But these Zazous continued to make their mark.
Their influence on fashion and culture kept showing up in big ways. Cab Calloway, famed singer of Minnie the Moocher, began sporting the Zoot Suit - known for its Zazou-esque long coat.
(I guess Calloway didn't worry about textile rationing either.)
Their avante garde approach to living was way ahead of similar movements in Americans, who didn't really get into any serious rebellious stage until the 1960s. (If you doubt me, do you really think a 1940s-era American would CHOOSE to eat shredded carrot salad? They'd at least have added something - how you say? - pedestrian like raisins or cool whip. Even though cool whip wasn't invented until 1967. My point stands.)
So we at Zazou carry on the imaginations from the zany Zazous of WW2-era France. We like your courage, we like your whimsy, we like your long coats and grenadine beer.
We like your style.
And hopefully, the world has evolved and we won't get in any trouble for expressing ourselves however way we see fit.
It's not polite to point, Mr. President.
