Ikou Tsch�ss

founded by

Guya Marini & Carmen D'Apollonio

belongs to

Guya Marini & Carmen D'Apollonio

about

Ikou-Tsch�ss is Guya Marini and Carmen D'Apollonio. Both second-generation Italians, both born and raised in Z�rich, Guya and Carmen have been friends for the entire millennium. Guya is Paris and Z�rich based; while Carmen travels between Z�rich and New York. In the beginning, the two would meet every summer in Z�rich and exchange ideas, but the lack of proximity kept their collaboration from coming immediately to fruition. Guya stayed active in Paris, doing her styling; Carmen, in Z�rich and sometimes New York, was kept busy as the invaluable assistant to Swiss artist Urs Fischer. Then, meeting up again in the beginning of 2006, the two decided to focus exclusively on making handmade knitwear and croched silk foulards. Guya showed the pieces to her friend Livio and Stephan from the Parisian press office, Public Image. Livio and Stephan were instantly taken with the knitwear and in their excitement planted the seeds for what was soon to become Ikou-Tsch�ss, demanding that Guya and Carmen formally create a label for the work they had brought in.

When Guya and Carmen begin knitting, they allow the piece to evolve, letting the design come together as they do the work. The aesthetic is and will always be focused on hand work. The designs are made by hand and the process of doing the work is vital to the form the design takes. Their production is staffed exclusively by grandmothers, who retain the old craftswomanly approach to handwork�skills that Guya and Carmen feel are disappearing today.

In many ways their collaboration is part of their inspiration. One partner will start a piece, and the other will step in to complete it. In this spirit, they also think it's important to include friends and family in their business. And since they have such a good time making the clothes, it is essential that the people who like them have a good time wearing the colorful word of IKOU TSCHUSS.