Zazous

Provocative French style and school of thought, circumscribed in German occupied Paris and Northern France from 1940 to 1944. It was a form of symbolic expression that summed up a whole world and way of thinking. The term comes from the name of an item of clothing, the American zoot suit, a fitted suit worn with high heels: the term was then reworked in French, and, inspired by the sound of jazz, it was translated onomatopoeically into “zazou-zazou-zazouhe.” Despite being a movement with a limited number of followers, it played a central role in French culture, and was a forerunner of the existentialist current. As a style, it started from dandyism and gradually took shape as a political tendency contemporary to the Vichy regime. Rather like French punks of the occupation, as the Zazous have been defined, they adopted a rather provocative way of dressing. Presenting themselves as extraneous to their contemporary reality, they were always seen wearing sunglasses and playing with yo-yos. The Zazous’ “uniform” consisted of a fitted suit with drainpipe pants and giant check patterns, and superfluous details like half-belts and raised shoulders. This was all worn with short white or mustard-colored socks and worn, deliberately unpolished, leather-soled shoes.