Zoltan was born in Hungary in 1957. After finishing school in 1975, he worked for a fashion magazine in Budapest for 3 years. He also worked as a freelance photographer for theatres and exhibitions.
In 1979, he left Hungary and was granted political asylum in Britain. He attended a fashion/business studies B.A. course at the American College in London, and in 1981 started working as a freelance illustrator.
His portfolio of drawings of bizarre, dream-like figures, a Wagnerian or Fellini-esque pageant of eccentric and disturbing characters, took London's fashion editors by surprise and won Zoltan his first commission from Vogue in 1982, which was followed by regular pages and portraits.
He has traveled frequently to New York, working for the New York Times, American Vogue and Interview. He also goes to Paris where he works for Liberation and Femme and to Milan where he contributes to Vogue Italia and Donna.
He has visited Japan, collaborating extensively with Issey Miyake and has participated in exhibitions there for Shiseido and Mitsukoshi. In Britain he has executed advertising campaigns for Young and Rubicam and J. Walter Thompson and has participated in exhibitions at the British Council. In France he has exhibited at the Musee des Art Decoratifs, Palais de Chaillot and the Palais de Louvre.
In 1989, Zoltan moved to Paris. In 1991 he worked with Harpers Bazaar on photography projects. He has produced striking images for Yves St. Laurent, Christian Lacroix, Azzedine Alaia and Christian Dior.
In 1993, he directed his first film.
He is one of today's most original fashion illustrators, combining his drawings with fabrics, flowers, gems and organic and inorganic materials, to create striking 3-dimensional montages. The allure of the blood-tipped vamp is his disquieting vision.
Hungarian-born Zoltan's exquisite series of 3-dimensional photo-drawing montages for the esoteric Japanese designer Issey Miyake are an outstanding example of where an illustrator can assert a designer's image with greater freedom than within the technical confines of photography.