Founded in Zagreb by two of Croatia’s coolest creatives Iva Ćurković Spajić and Irja Šipuš, House of Kiwi is an up-and coming brand inspired by a passion for fashion – and long, warm summer days. Since its establishment in 2017, House of Kiwi has released two ready-to-wear summer collections, made of 100% cotton terrycloth for men and women (and boys and girls). Each piece is uniquely designed and crafted in Croatia in cooperation with three mom-and-pop sewing stores from the Zagreb region. The goal? To create soft, comfortable and uninhibited clothes that are unpretentious but sexy; which will perfectly accompany their wearer on any and all summer adventures.
Why cotton terrycloth? Iva and Irja believe in the power of traditional materials, and in tandem with that, retro-style fashion too. They procure their 100% cotton terrycloth from a small-town family factory in Italy, halfway between Torino and Milano. The materials are created in a colour palate specially-curated by Iva and Irja, who also incorporate 100% cotton and organic-certified colours into their clothes. As a summer-centred brand (which also puts out the occasional long-sleeved jumper for those post-bura wind evenings) all House of Kiwi clothes are sun and salt-resistant. Swimming and sunbathing encouraged!
© House of Kiwi
House of Kiwi is a growing brand, with the two founders making up the full team. Iva worked in Borovo (an iconic Croatian shoe production company) for four years, and Irja worked at the UN Refugee Agency for 2.5 years before House of Kiwi was born. The team works at a lower intensity than usual in the fast-paced fashion industry, for two reasons Irja divulges: “For one, there are only two of us and it’s logistically impossible to organize production in the quick rhythm dictated by the industry. Second, due to our personal worldviews and brand philosophy: we don’t believe in excessive production, but rather self-sustainability on a smaller scale, and in cooperation with small producers”.
House of Kiwi clothes are sold in specialty fashion stores from Atelier Ribica in Rovinj to Divino Concept Store on Hvar, but keep an eye out for their own webshop, coming soon. Until then, feast your eyes on picture-perfect pieces through House of Kiwi's Instagram page.
This feature is part of Time Out Croatia's commitment to support businesses, commerce and non-profit organisations during the period of social distancing.