No matter where you are in the world, there is one tradition that seems to transcend borders: raising a glass. Coffee in the morning, wine around a crowded table, champagne in celebration — what we drink tells a story about where we come from, who we’re with, and the moments we want to remember.
Živeli began as a way of staying connected to where I come from. My Baba grew up in Petrinja, and my Grandpa was just streets away in the village of Lušćani. They eventually immigrated to the United States, where they built a life and raised my mother and her siblings. Yet, after a lifetime spent an ocean away, they both found their way back—and were laid to rest in the place where their stories began.
Their story made me think about the connection we carry to places, even long after we leave them. Živeli is my way of exploring that connection through fashion. It begins with my own Serbian roots and the places that shaped my family.
Bringing Serbia & Croatia to you, one piece at a time.
