Zagorka Kalentic Markovic
Zagorka Kalentic Markovic is a fashion designer based in Novi Sad who started her brand ZAGA back in 2014.
Coming from a family of entrepreneurs but always inspired and influenced by her deep love of art and literature, Zaga used her knowledge gained at the Faculty of Technical Sciences as Engineer of Management and experience as Professor of German Language and Literature and after 10 years of working in project management and marketing, she decided it was time to let her love and passion for creativity live through fashion and her brand was born.
Following her intuition and her strong will to listen to the voice of her inner being, she started this journey with no idea that very soon it would become a full-time profession.
The brand’s visual identity was inspired by strong important personalities who left significant cultural heritage in the world of arts, science and literature. The common path connecting all these great minds is their strong sense of inner purpose, and through channeling their life mission, ZAGA strives to encourage all people to be who they really are, calling them soul seekers, as the brand slogan says.
As the brand became more visible and popular locally, the designer became recognized as someone who uses modern design tools to bring core cultural values from the past closer to the people. This later became the foundation of her collaborations with some of Serbia’s most important cultural institutions such as The Gallery of Matica Srpska and The National Museum of Republic of Serbia, with whom ZAGA produced a line of T-shirts inspired by artwork of famous Serbian paintings such as Sava Šumanović, Paja Jovanović and Uros Predić among others.
As she continued to grow, ZAGA expanded from streetwear to more sophisticated pieces, with the goal to create more statement pieces that could be mixed and matched with all their T-Shirts in the already existing line.
Today, ZAGA creates for women who are strong, independent, and whose individuality is not sacrificed through other roles that are taken on in life. The ZAGA woman is often very busy, well informed and aware of herself and her responsibilities, but also of her joys and her desires. Most importantly, she nurtures her relationship with herself.
ZAGA core pieces, the brand’s lucky charms, are high quality statement T-shirts and sweatshirts for women, men and kids. They are made to last and be cherished for a long time.
All items carrying the ZAGA tag are produced locally in Serbia. We now boast a well curated and long list of chosen partners who deliver different parts of our product before we get to know the final piece. Some of ZAGA products are made through an initiative that empowers and integrates persons with disabilities, and therefore carry the seal FAIR product.
2020 was an important year for the brand, as it found new ways to grow amid the global period of change. Apart from opening a new showroom in Novi Sad at the End of 2019 in addition to the existing vending points in the Serbian capital, the brand expanded to EU and is now sold locally in Slovenia as well. We are happy to say we continue to ship internationally, as well.
Zagorka Kalentić Marković je modna dizajnerka sa sedištem u Novom Sadu koja je svoj brend ZAGA pokrenula još 2014. godine.
Potičući iz porodice preduzetnika, ali oduvek okružena dubokom ljubavlju prema umetnosti i književnosti, Zaga koristi znanja i iskustva stečena na Fakultetu Tehničkih Nauka kao inženjer menadžmenta i iskustvo profesora nemačkog jezika i književnosti i nakon 10 godina rada u upravljanju projektima i marketingu, odlučuje je da je vreme da svoju ljubav i strast za kreativnošću pusti da živi kroz modu i primenjeni dizajn.
Ta odluka da se upusti u sferu kreativnog bila je vrlo lična i inspirisana unutrašnjim spoznajama. Sledeći svoju intuiciju i snažnu volju da sluša glas svog unutrašnjeg bića, započela je ovo putovanje ni ne sluteći da će vrlo brzo ZAGA postati profesija sa punim radnim vremenom.
Vizuelni identitet brenda inspirisan je snažnim ličnostima koje su ostavile značajno kulturno nasleđe u svetu umetnosti, nauke i književnosti. Zajednički put koji povezuje sve ove velike umove je njihov snažan osećaj unutrašnje svrhe, a kroz kanalisanje njihove životne misije, ZAGA nastoji da ohrabri sve ljude da budu ono što zaista jesu, nazivajući ih onima koji tragaju dušom, kao što i sam slogan brenda for true soulseekers kaže.
Kako je brend postao vidljiviji i popularniji na lokalnom nivou, ZAGA je postala prepoznata kao neko ko koristi savremene i originalne intervencije iz oblasti dizajna i mode, kako bi kulturne vrednosti iz prošlosti stavila u savremeni kontekst. Ovo je kasnije postalo temelj njene saradnje sa nekim od najvažnijih srpskih kulturnih institucija kao što su Galerija Matice Srpske i Narodni muzej Republike Srbije, sa kojima je kreirala nekoliko serija majica inspirisanih delima poznatih srpskih slikara poput Save Šumanovića, Paje Jovanovića, Uroša Predića i dr, koje se danas prodaju u muzejskim shopovima.
Kako je brend nastavio da raste, ZAGA se proširila sa street style odeće na sofisticiranije komade.
Danas ZAGA stvara za žene koje su snažne, nezavisne i koje vole i neguju svoju individualnost, uprkos svim drugim uloge koje su preuzele u životu. Iako su često vrlo zauzete, dobro su informisana i svesne sebe i svojih odgovornosti, ali i svojih radosti i svojih želja. Što je najvažnije, one pre svega neguju odnos sa sobom.
ZAGA signature komadi su visokokvalitetne majice i duksevi za žene, muškarce i decu, napravljeni da traju dugo i da se nose sa posebnom emocijom.
Svi predmeti sa oznakom ZAGA proizvode se lokalno u Srbiji. Neki od ZAGA proizvoda proizvedeni su od strane osoba sa invaliditetom, a samim tim nose i oznaku FER proizvoda.
2020. bila je važna godina za brend, jer smo pronašli nove načine za rast usred globalnog perioda promena. Osim što smo krajem 2019. godine otvorili prodajni studio u Novom Sadu, pored postojećih prodajnih mesta u glavnom gradu Srbije, proširili smo se na EU tržište. Nadamo se da će naši proizvodi nastaviti da donose radost onima koji ih nose i da će u budućnosti svojim dizanjom i kvalitetom osvojiti još mnoga srca.
