Written by Menswear Style in Interviews on the 16th February 2021

Ziggy Lloyd was created for the well-travelled man who buys a last-minute flight across the world, for the music-lover who meticulously puts together the perfect playlist for every party, for the gourmet who appreciates fine dining as much as late night street food, and most of all, for the daring individual who isn’t afraid to let his personality shine through a carefully curated wardrobe. Ziggy Lloyd's limited-edition collection of men's coats are classic and timeless, with a contemporary twist. The magic of the coats and jackets is in the feel, look and textures. Each garment is crafted from high quality, sustainable materials, and every detail tells a story; from the luscious alpaca fleece once worn by the Incan nobility that is hand spun and woven into the softest wool fabric by local communities in Peru, to the handmade buttons that come from the tagua nut indigenous to Ecuador, to the original, hand drawn designs printed on silky soft lining. Made in limited batches in an atelier just outside of Lisbon by an experienced team of tailors, their coat designs reflect how life should be lived: with purpose and personality.

In a recent episode of the MenswearStyle Podcast we interviewed Ziggy Lloyd Co-Founders, Sophie Lloyd and Ephraim Austin, about how the husband-and-wife duo met and where the idea and inspiration for their brand came from. Focussed on Alpaca wool, they set out to start a fashion brand focused on men's jackets and coats made in Portugal. Our host Peter Brooker and Sophie/Ephraim also talked about early supply chain problems, the benefits of Alpaca fiber, working with artists, pricing strategies, sustainability, and how Brexit and Covid-19 has impacted their business.

“I'm Sophie and this is Ephraim, and we're husband and wife. We're currently based in Lisbon, but we met in Argentina, and my background is in fashion journalism and styling. When I moved to Argentina in Buenos Aires, I started a personal shopping business where I would take clients on design experiences, taking them to hidden designer spots. I would show them the local craftsmanship and materials of not just Argentina, but all South America, and people were always really impressed by the quality of alpaca wool products that you could get there. A lot of people would associate alpaca wool with itchy hippy jumpers that you get when you go backpacking in Peru. For Ziggy Lloyd we were inspired by that material and decided that we wanted to work on something together. We were playing around with ideas about what we could do with the material and Ephraim loves coats, so we started a coat brand.”

“We noticed a lot of brands out there such as kidswear and womenswear brands were working with alpaca wool, but much less in the menswear field. That is when we decided to go to Peru and Bolivia to find the best alpaca wool that we could and go exploring and learn about how it's done. We travelled through Peru to find suppliers which was cool. Meetings were all in Spanish and we had to figure out who the suppliers were. With our outerwear we want to mix it up and come up with a more contemporary style. People are always amazed when they put on our coats because they’re very soft and very warm. We have classic and timeless models, but we play around with the details, for example, our buttons are from a supplier in Ecuador that works with local artisans. They have a very sustainable process where the nuts that fall from the trees are collected and then chopped and carved into buttons.”

This is a shortened transcribed edit of episode 107 of the MenswearStyle Podcast with Sophie Lloyd and Ephraim Austin, Co-Founders of ziggylloyd.com. You can listen to the full version below or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast player.

We sit down and speak to Sophie Lloyd and Ephraim Austin of men's outerwear brand Ziggy Lloyd who make menswear jackets and coats made from Alpaca Wool.