by With weeks to go before his Fall 2024 Fashion Week presentation in New York, designer Henry Zankov is speaking to me from a Paris hotel room where he is showing buyers his current collection. “There might be some noise because there are meetings happening in the other room,” he tells me. “I think the buyers feel optimistic. Everything in the showroom is going well, and it’s busy. It’s the busiest market ever, which is great.”
Cult-fave eponymous brand Zankov is four years old and focuses on sharp yet easy-to-wear knits for men and women. When he does, he says, he imagines men and women who are a little complicated, very worldly, and always bold; he often thinks of the actress Tilda Swinton, or the late artist Brice Marden’s daughters Melia and Mirabelle. Zankov’s designs are refined, with a foundation in color play and innovation in sewing techniques. He creates garments such as soft mohair sweaters given a graphic treatment, long dresses that experiment with color blocking, and plush coats with bold colors and stripes.
His attention to detail and design approach based on craftsmanship and a sustainable mindset elevates his pieces, including for fall a bouncy orange maxi dress and matching scarf, with oversized pockets and a pencil skirt woven diamond. Zankov’s prices are competitive, from $495 (a mohair vest) to $2,300 (for a hand-knit coat). Because of this, the brand is selling well, and this season will expand its wholesale business in Asia. It is currently stocked by major stores such as Bergdorf Goodman in New York, McMullen Boutique on the West Coast, and ByGeorge in Texas.
Before becoming an ancestral fashion wunderkind, the Russian-born Zankov immigrated to Brooklyn Heights as a child. By the early 2000s, he was studying fashion design and specializing in knitwear at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “What I noticed when I was at school was that I was drawn to a calmness and softness in terms of material and silhouette,” he says. “I was good at it. It came naturally to me, and some of my professors were like, ‘Oh, you’re good at this. You should try to get into this knitwear programme.’ But I wasn’t sure. So I thought, OK, let’s try it.”
While at FIT, Zankov interned at luxury cashmere house TSE, where he was able to study and work with premium yarns, and learn new stitch and handwork technologies. After school, he was an assistant knitwear designer at Donna Karan.
“It was kind of at the height of Donna Karan, right after LVMH bought the brand. Also, in the design studios in New York at that time, there was a great influx of European designers,” he says. “I was lucky enough to learn from many who worked for big houses in Europe. Many of them were British. Some were French. I learned a lot about draping, about working in a 3-D format, rather than sketching. We did a lot of labor and fitting – you know, trying things upside down, back to back, back to front, sleeve cut, tie it to the neck.”
Sophistication is central to Zankov’s process. As he notes, “the colors for the latest Fall 2024 collection had to feel like they were glowing from within. So they were very saturated, but they didn’t feel heavy. This kind of luminescent quality was with the palette we chose. When you dye these beautiful colors, they look naturally beautiful, especially with special yarns like crochet, cellophane and cotton crepes.”
Beyond his skill with knitting, Zankov also understands how to scale a business – always a challenge for a small independent label. Now that the brand is graduating from upstart to something more established, where does Zankov plan to take it from here?
“The example of Azzedine Alaïa is very interesting, with his house and his restaurant and his store in one place,” he says. “Of course, I would love to have a shop. But if I did, it would be a little different, maybe connecting it to our studio where we work. Then we could have this kind of intimate relationship with the outside world.” He doesn’t believe Zankov needs a store in every city, though. “That’s not the goal for me—it’s important that there is meaningful growth. I think the goal right now is a store in New York. As we continue to grow the business, I would also consider other cities.”
Bergdorf Goodman’s chief merchandising officer, Yumi Shin, agrees that there is longevity in what Zankov is putting out into the world. “I first met Henry at his Spring 2023 production, and was immediately drawn to his painted collection and joyful color combinations,” she says via email. “All of his collections are imbued with his mastery of craftsmanship and technical ability.”
A high-end retail executive for more than a decade who has seen promising brands rise and fall, Shin makes an optimistic prediction for Zankov’s future: “I think we’ve only seen a fraction of what he’s capable of so far. Henry put his sense into the clothes and created a strong brand identity. His singular attitude is central to his success. So as long as he keeps doing what he’s doing, the sky’s the limit.”
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