Zadig

"Trust me," the hermit said calmly.

There’s a specific kind of "cool" that only a few brands can capture—that intersection of high-end luxury and "I just threw this on" nonchalance. Since 1997, Zadig & Voltaire has owned this space. Founded by Thierry Gillier, the brand took the name of Voltaire’s famous protagonist to signify a free-spirited, philosophical approach to fashion. "Trust me," the hermit said calmly

Published during the height of the Enlightenment, Zadig; or, The Book of Fate is a philosophical fiction piece that uses an oriental setting to critique 18th-century French society, religious intolerance, and the complexities of human destiny. The Narrative Arc Founded by Thierry Gillier, the brand took the

Disillusioned and weary, Zadig decided to return to Babylon, hoping to live in obscurity. On his way, he met a hermit—a strange, terrifying figure who claimed to be an angel in disguise. The hermit asked Zadig to trust him, no matter what happened. On his way, he met a hermit—a strange,

They traveled next to the cottage of a kind, impoverished widow who fed them the last of her bread. As they left, the hermit secretly gave the widow a purse full of gold he had stolen from the castle. He then took a small vase from her shelf and smashed it on the floor. Again, Zadig was confused.

Long before Sherlock Holmes or Edgar Allan Poe's C. Auguste Dupin, Voltaire introduced the concept of analytical deduction. In a famous chapter, Zadig accurately describes the king's horse and the queen's dog using tiny physical tracks left in the dirt, despite never having seen either animal.