In 1974, Diane von Furstenberg introduced the now-iconic wrap dress – a simple garment that wrapped around the body and tied at the waist. At the time, it was a revolution in women’s fashion: sexy, practical, and stylish enough to move seamlessly from the office to a night out. It became a symbol of women’s liberation, offering a new kind of freedom and confidence through its ease. By 1976, more than a million had been sold.
Earlier this year, with Von Furstenberg’s blessing, the brand named Henry Zankov the brand's first artistic director – a newly created role overseeing the American brand’s full creative vision. Zankov served as Diane von Furstenberg's design director of knitwear from 2014 to 2018 before stepping out on his own with Zankov in 2020, eventually earning a place as runner-up for the 2023 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize and the CFDA Emerging Designer of the Year award a year later in 2024. This morning (September 10), for S/S 2027, he debuted his first collection staged on a landmark of present-day New York: the High Line.
Over the years, Von Furstenberg and Zankov have formed a special relationship – the two speak on a daily basis. ‘She told me that body language is the most important,’ Zankov told Wallpaper* the day before the fashion show. Von Furstenberg taught Zankov how to work with the body: ‘how clothes move, how they reveal, how they communicate,’ read the show notes.
The Russia-born, Brooklyn-based designer grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, raised by strong women. Even as a child, he ran his own play-fashion business, setting up a boutique where he designed outfits and sold them. As he got older, he would cross the Hudson River to visit New York, and he became fascinated with the Comme des Garçons store, an early education in the city that would later shape his career.
‘New York is a very fast-paced city, and naturally the clothes usually feel more relaxed, nonchalant, and people dress for what excites them, not for the expectation,’ he said. ‘I always believe fashion can be a tool to highlight a person’s desires, feelings, and aspirations.’
Zankov's debut collection was a celebration of femininity. His muse is a strong, self-assured woman. ‘She is a rebel; she dresses for herself and no one else,’ he explained. ‘She moves through life to her own rhythm.’ The designer looked deep in the house's archives for inspiration. ‘I was drawn to prints and patterns which feel like house codes,’ he said. ‘Juxtaposing them with new colours and materiality feels like there is one foot in the past and one in the future.’
Archival animal prints, long, lean silhouettes, colour-blocking and tailoring ran throughout. Everything looked comfortable and liberating; his own takes on DVF’s signature silhouette were a green checked wrap dress and a colour-blocked maxi dress. Zankov also infused the idea of wrapping into an anamorphic leopard-print trench and a colour-blocked baby blue and oxblood wrap jacket. A boho-tinged enlarged leopard print dress has a free-spirited flair. The clothes were meant to seduce – but not in the conventional way. There are exposed shoulders and plunging necklines, but, according to Zankov, the seduction comes from movement and body language.
A new suit silhouette, in particular, merged Von Furstenberg's legacy with his own aesthetic. ‘It is an elongated shape for the jacket and trousers in the most beautiful raspberry red wool and constructed lightly inside so it feels tailored and substantial yet languid and easy,’ said Zankov.
But it’s not time for rest just yet; Zankov’s latest runway show for his eponymous show is on September 14. He even conveniently moved Zankov into the same building as Diane von Furstenberg. ‘I divide my time on both depending on the needs of that week,‘ he said. ‘It has become very clear the differences even more so between both brands.’
Zankov hopes to propel Von Furstenberg’s ideals into the future with the same ethos as its namesake. ‘I believe clothes feel modern today when they feel light,‘ he said. ‘When a garment is made in the most wonderful fabric and constructed lightly, it is true luxury.‘
Stay tuned to wallpaper.com for more from New York Fashion Week S/S 2027.