Zagreb, 1938. Jagica is an enterprising woman who, after working as an apprentice, starts her own business producing headscarves. It may be hard to imagine today, but at the time, headscarves worn over the hair — especially during fieldwork — were not accessories but necessities. They also carried meaning: brightly colored for young women hoping to marry, more subdued for married women; darker for middle-aged women, and black for widows, ready to be lightened again if the heart opened to a possible second husband. Patterns and colors spoke of status, belonging, and religion.

In the 1960s, her son Angelo joined the company. The screens for silk-screen printing were worn out, so he ordered new ones from Como. He also chose Italian suppliers for the fabrics because he wanted the best cotton — one that didn’t slip on the hair or echo in the ears. Together with his wife Jagoda, he brought an Italian product beyond the Iron Curtain, and its reputation spread throughout Eastern Europe. The business came to an end in the 1990s due to war, changing customs, and finally a fire.

Twenty years later, his son Marco recovered those printing frames and had them restored. It was 2014. Headscarves were no longer in use, but those prints still had an extraordinary charm. Marco began transferring them onto sweatshirts, backpacks, T-shirts, bandanas, and ties. He found his place of the heart in Trieste and chose for his workshop the name Dezen — the word used by the Turks, derived from the French dessin, meaning “design.” Dezen Dezen, twice, just like the repeated motifs printed on the fabric. Every accessory that leaves the Cavana workshop today is a unique piece — handmade, and the heir of a story.