Mel Ziegler

Mel Ziegler and his wife Patricia Ziegler were the American founders of Banana Republic.

Along with William Rosenzweig, they also co-founded The Republic of Tea. They eventually sold both companies.

The Zieglers subsequently founded another apparel company, Zoza, but this was shut down in the dot com crash of 2000.

Their eldest son, Zio Ziegler, is a notable large-scale metal sculptor, painter, and street artist. The couple published a 2012 memoir titled Wild Company, The Untold Story of Banana Republic.