Despite having been around for only a few years, Twenty(2)Too has already proved to be a promising menswear label. Hailing from Bucharest, Romania, and the brainchild of Mihai Dan Zarug, Twenty(2)Too was created to celebrate fun in fashion, as well as to cherish individual personal style. In its four collections, this has most certainly been achieved by mixing street wear, ironic details, and classical tailoring in order to create impeccably cut and sown pieces.
The history of Twenty(2)Too started when Zarug moved to Paris to do an MBA in Luxury Marketing Management. After graduating in 2008, he took an internship with the press office TOTEM, which allowed him to have first-hand contact with some of the designers he admired the most, including Bernhard Wilhelm, Raf Simons, and Walter Van Beirendonck. This was followed by a position as studio director for Alain Gossuin in Paris.
In October 2009, he decided to take his first steps on his own and launch his own label. The name of Twenty(2)Too came to Zarug very naturally as he believes it to be his destiny number in numerology. 22 is also the age that the designer finds the most interesting as it usually marks the moment in life when one usually graduates from University and has to take a more precise direction in life.
Over the last two years, Twenty(2)Too has gone from strength to strength, with its collections having been exhibited in Amsterdam, Berlin, Bucharest, and Paris. Overall, the label values traditional savoir faire, and garments are inspired by a heady mix of dynamic urban jungles and Romanian peasant lifestyle. At the same time, Mihai insists on pushing gender boundaries by cladding men in pieces that are derived from women’s wear, showing confident proficiency in the language of fashion.
For Autumn/Winter 2011, the feminine tunic-like tops and oversized chiffon shirts contrast with the severity of Doc Martens boots and dropped crotch trousers. At the same time, the abstract splodges patterns in shirts and tops and exposed stitching lines make Twenty(2)Too’s current collection a triumph and a label to follow.
