It is a glowing, early spring morning in Paris when I find the Australian fashion designer Nicky Zimmermann perched at the end of a long, white, carpeted runway on the third floor of a grand building in the first arrondissement. Relocated from New South Wales, her team have erected a glossy temporary base in preparation for the Zimmermann catwalk show set to take over the nearby Carreau du Temple in two days’ time.
Rails of catwalk looks go up to number 52; tables are covered with silk scarves, tie-up leather belts, caged sandal kitten heels, suede totes and cockatoo-moulded earrings. Soon, models will file out for Zimmermann, 58, the creative mind behind the billion-dollar fashion brand, which she runs alongside her co-founder and business-minded sister Simone, to make her final adjustments.
The label has come a long way since it began life on a market stall in Paddington, the gay suburb of Sydney, in 1991. Originally making its name with swimwear and bohemian ready-to-wear items, Zimmermann has become synonymous with women of a certain type of jet-set affluence, hopping from Palm Beach to Saint Tropez in resort-ready gowns. It has carved out its own niche of formal-but-romantic feminine dressing; some of the most impressively attired Royal Ascot-goers will have picked their frocks from the Aussie label. So, too, will the best-dressed wedding guests, willing to invest in the big day: dresses start at £495 and go to £3,800.
More recently, the label’s sculptural denims and boho-chic shearling outerwear have helped it cater to clients during the winter months, too; good news for its A-list fans, who include Taylor Swift, Elle Fanning and Sienna Miller as well as fellow Australians Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett.
Now in its 35th year of business, it is safe to say the label has done something right. Zimmermann herself is diminutive in stature, but not in personality. Today her long, dark hair hangs halfway down a black polo neck, accessorised with a Celine charm necklace and Cartier bangles and paired with ivory silk and lace trim ankle-length skirt-trousers.
Our conversation is peppered with regular bursts of her rapturous laughter. One such moment comes as she recounts a turning point for the label in 2014. “I was in a dreadful place called Jenolan Caves, with no phone reception,” she says. “We thought the kids would like it, but they hated it. It was horrible and everyone had a claustrophobic attack. So we left. When we finally got back into phone reception my husband [Chris Oliver, also Zimmermann’s CEO] asked, ‘Is there something going on on your phone?’ I said, ‘Yes, it’s literally exploding.’ He’s like, ‘What’s going on?’ I just said, ‘What the f***!’,” she recalls, as the penny dropped.
The Princess of Wales, then Duchess of Cambridge, was touring Australia with Prince William and had been pictured wearing a Zimmermann dress on Sydney’s Manly Beach. “There she was on the sand in a Zimmermann white dress and everything went crazy for us,” she says. “I’m still asked about it. It was just hilarious that we had no idea. My mum was going mad asking, ‘Where are you?’” She lets out a friendly cackle once more.
The next time I hear it, we are backstage after the autumn/winter 2026 show. Jessica Chastain, Oprah Winfrey and Naomi Watts all showed up to support the label, alongside a who’s-who of London society including Lily James, Poppy Delevingne and Lady Lola Bute.
Zimmermann is commanding the space, joking with guests as she tells them how her grandmother — who stepped up to be a lifeguard during the First World War — and rebellious 1920s women inspired this “trailblazer” collection. It features silk-scarf dresses printed with women in planes; preppy, cream three-piece suits; and aviator-esque boilersuits. Elegantly ballooning, draped dresses come with art deco prints and panelled lace while structured, lace-lingerie gowns are standout — a periwinkle version has already been worn by Zendaya on The Drama press tour.
Born in the suburbs of Sydney, Zimmermann was taught to sew by her mother and auntie and “could make anything” by the time she was 13. She went on to study design at college before launching her market stall and grabbing the attention of Australian Vogue.
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By 1992, the label had opened its first store in Darlinghurst and in 1996, it made a splash debuting at Australia’s Fashion Week. “Our idea was let’s do swimwear, but it goes with the ready to wear,” she says. “The prints in the swim were lace, and that was the same as the print on the jacket.” It worked — next stop, breaking the Miami swim market. So it did, and more: in 2013 Zimmermann arrived at New York Fashion Week and it has presented collections at Paris Fashion Week since 2022. There are 87 stores worldwide; in January, a second London outpost arrived in Sloane Square.
When it comes to swimwear today, “I have practical advice,” Zimmermann says. “I think every woman is pretty much the same as me — you hate trying it on and buying it. It’s a terrible experience. But if it’s to be done, go to a store where they know what they’re doing and try to go out on a limb. If you never wear red, have a go. You need to try a lot on, because I know personally how we cut things, different fabrications, every swimsuit and every body is so different. Give yourself a bit of time, get a good assistant and go for it.”
And as for how to get the Zimmermannlook this summer? “It needs to be fun,” the designer says. One glance at model Edie Campbell flaunting a floral frock in the spring/summer campaign is enough to instil this mood. “I don’t like to travel with two bags and do all of that, so when I pack for holidays I do plan and I go for love,” Zimmermann says. “I don’t care if it’s really full-on, either — [whether that’s with] colour or silhouette. I’ll wear a giant lacy dress and walk down the street with flat shoes and just think — whatever.”