AT OVER FIFTY YEARS OLD,
YOU CAN STILL KEEP GROWING!
AT OVER FIFTY YEARS OLD,
In 1962, Roger Zannier and Josette, his younger sister lived in the French town of Saint-Chamond, which is where they launched their business, armed with two recently-acquired sewing machines.
The company quickly specialised in children’s clothing and signed its first contracts to supply the retail sector.
They took on a dozen or so seamstresses in their new, larger workshop. And since then, the “family” has gotten bigger and bigger!
In 1969, Zannier moved its 80 employees and 10,000 m² workshop in to a former convent in the centre of Saint-Chamond.
The company kept on growing and, in the 1980s, it established itself as frontrunner on the childrenswear market. The turning point came in 1983 with the launch of the Z brand and its advertising campaigns.
The group and its brand took another bold step forward when it became a fully-fledged retailer and opened its first Z store in Saint Etienne, making affordable kidswear available on the high street.
A hundred Z stores then opened across France in just two years.
The group became one of the most powerful names in children’s clothing. And it is also a major player in the world of sport!
What a thrill it was to watch cyclist Greg Lemond triumph in the Tour de France in 1990, racing in a Z shirt and taking the little Loire-based brand to the top of the podium!
The Zannier group grew as quickly as the children it clothed. It first acquired Kickers and then, in 1989, the Duguy group, another childrenswear specialist and owner of the Floriane and Alphabet brands.
In 1991, it moved on to the international stage with the acquisition of Absorba and 3 Pommes, two brands found in all the European capitals.
The group expanded into teen fashion when it acquired Chipie in 1999, and then entered the adult clothing market with IKKS and One Step in 2000. And then there was Catimini!
With the new millenium came greater focus on fashion. The group disposed of Kickers and started to develop licenses, for example Dim Enfants and Levi’s Kids. It also created children’s ranges for some of the leading designers such as Kenzo Kids, Junior Gaultier and Paul Smith Junior.
The group celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012 and decided to refocus on the marketing of children’s clothing.
The group signed the Esprit Kids license in 2015, speeding up its development on the German-speaking market.
That same year, the group celebrated a new arrival – Kidiliz, the first multi-channel, multi-brand distributor.
In 2016, the group reinvents itself under a new name, Kidiliz Group.
2018 sees new groundbreaking : an alliance formed with Semir, the multibrand leader in the garment industry in China. History in the making !
Kidiliz Group and Semir grow into the world’s second largest player in kidswear.
A new licence in the group’s portfolio of premium brands. G-star Raw, a strong international brand with almost 30 years of expertise in the field of denim.