ZacZess X Elfstrand

Who are you?

We are two horse-loving sisters from a small place in Västergötland called Vara. For several years now, we have been working full-time with our social media where, among other things, we run Sweden's largest equestrian-oriented Youtube channel and Podcast. We have four horses of our own and we train and compete in both jumping and dressage.

How did you decide which products you wanted to create?

We knew right from the start that we wanted to produce a pair of (in our opinion) ultimate riding breeches. As we love ZacZess Ohio riding leggings , we wanted to invest in producing a model for breeches that would be as Ohio-like as possible, and we think we've succeeded! When it came to tops, we pretty much agreed on which models we wanted: A pique t-shirt , a ribbed long sleeve sweater and a zip top without hood and laces . These types of tops were not in the ZacZess range at the time, and there are three different garments that we and many others feel very comfortable in and that are suitable to have in the stable.  

What did you think about your color choices? 

Our goal when we designed our collection was that all garments could be matched with each other. Brown, beige and pink are three of our personal favorite colors in clothing, and we love that you can choose to have a more classic outfit with just brown and beige or a more colorful outfit if you choose the pink sweater. We wanted all the shades of the colors to be quite neutral, and neither too warm nor too cold, again so that they would match each other as well as possible. We didn't want the pink sweater to be too pastel or bright pink, but have come up with a very nice mid-pink shade that we both love! When it came to the breeches, we were sure from the start that we wanted to make them dark brown, as ZacZess didn't have breeches in that color, and we know it's a color of breeches that many people love and feel comfortable in.
 

What was the most important thing for you to secure during the design phase?

For us, it is important that as many people as possible have the opportunity to buy our clothes, and therefore we chose to expand the sizes up to size XXL in our garments. We know that there is a great demand for riding clothes in larger sizes, but despite that, the supply on the market is quite low. When it came to the breeches, we wanted to design a pair of breeches that are really high in the waist, stay in place without sliding down or bunching up, and have the same great stretch and compression in the fabric as the Ohio riding leggings. The riding breeches therefore have roughly the same material in the fabric as the Ohio riding leggings, but with a pair of riding breeches' other properties. They have belt holders with nice details, cell phone pockets with a bit of silicone on the top of the pocket (for extra security for the cell phone) and come in both full and half shots as we know everyone has different preferences when it comes to shoeing. Otherwise, they have a classic design so that as many people as possible can feel comfortable in them. 
When it came to tops, we wanted to bring out a few different types. Partly a polo shirt that is more classic, but also a lovely pink sweater because above all Emma loves pink. It wouldn't have been an Elfstrand collection without something pink, in other words! Then we love zip sweaters, that is, sweaters that are like hoodies but without a hood, so it felt obvious that such a sweater would have a place in our collection as well.
 

Why was it ZacZess in particular that you wanted to make a collection with? 

When we got the question from ZacZess about making a collection together with them, it felt completely natural to say yes! We've been working together through collaborations for a long time now and we really love ZacZess' clothes. We use them every day!