ZANKOV

ZANKOV is a New York womenswear label founded by Henry Zankov, whose work grew from specialist knitwear into a complete ready-to-wear wardrobe. The brand began with a six-sweater soft launch in 2019, conceived as a compact visual exercise in colour, pattern and recognisable identity. Zankov followed with the formal commercial launch in February 2020, only weeks before the pandemic disrupted wholesale and retail. During the shutdown he repurposed existing knit inventory into fuzzy pillows and blankets, keeping the young business active without turning those objects into a permanent home line.

The early collections established a technical language around merino wool, alpaca, mohair, intarsia, rib structures and graphic geometry. From 2022 onward the label expanded steadily into woven clothing, shirting, trousers, dresses, skirts, outerwear and tailoring. Spring/Summer 2023 introduced wovens into the seasonal system; Spring/Summer 2025 used metal-infused wool developed with an Italian mill; and the Spring/Summer 2026 runway pushed silk, denim, leather, embroidery and tailored pieces further into the collection. By Fall/Winter 2026, ZANKOV was working across Melton wool, silk charmeuse, organza and sculptural outerwear alongside its signature knits.

Institutional recognition accelerated that development. Henry Zankov was named a runner-up in the 2023 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, receiving a grant and mentorship, then won the Google Shopping American Emerging Designer of the Year award at the 2024 CFDA Awards. Wholesale relationships have included major luxury retailers such as Net-a-Porter and Bergdorf Goodman, although the exact starting year of the Net-a-Porter account remains unresolved in published accounts. The label moved from presentations and appointments into its first full runway for Spring/Summer 2026, followed by Fall/Winter 2026, Think of Me More and More, at Storied NYC on 12 February 2026.

ZANKOV remains independently operated alongside Henry Zankov’s role as artistic director of Diane von Furstenberg. By May 2026 the ZANKOV studio had moved from its former Brooklyn live-work base into DVF’s Meatpacking District headquarters, creating shared premises without a merger or ownership transfer. The label continued to maintain its own website, direct-to-consumer shop and collection archive, and it appeared separately from DVF on the preliminary September 2026 New York Fashion Week schedule. As of August 2026, ZANKOV remained an active New York label with knitwear at its technical core and a broader multi-category womenswear system around it.

ZANKOV begins with the textile itself. Knitwear allows Henry Zankov to build surface and garment simultaneously, using yarn weight, stitch, tension and colour as structural decisions. Brushed alpaca, compact merino, mohair, bouclé effects, ribbing and intarsia give the clothes depth and tactility, while checks, stripes, blocks and abstract motifs make colour function almost architecturally across the body.

The silhouettes balance graphic force with physical ease. Tubular dresses, relaxed trousers, soft shirts, wrap-like pieces and enveloping outerwear keep movement central even when the surface is dense or the palette is saturated. Zankov’s training at Donna Karan reinforced an attention to drape, touch and daily wear, while his years at Diane von Furstenberg expanded his confidence with vivid colour and sensual wardrobe dressing. Those influences are absorbed into a language that remains recognisably his through proportion, yarn and pattern.

The label’s evolution has widened the material field without abandoning its knitwear intelligence. Woven cottons, metal-thread wool, silk, leather, denim, tailoring cloth and transparent organza now sit beside sweaters and knitted dresses, allowing the collection to operate across seasons and categories. The expansion is visible in the way a complete look can move between soft and rigid surfaces, matte and luminous finishes, or compact tailoring and more yielding knitted volume.

Collaboration is embedded in this material practice. Artists including Philippine de Richemont, Daniel Reynolds and Helen Bullock have supplied imagery translated into intarsia, print and embroidery; Presley Oldham has repeatedly contributed jewellery; and projects with Selima Optique and TSU LANGE YOR have extended the label into eyewear and luxury textiles. These collaborations remain discrete creative encounters inside the main ZANKOV practice. The label’s identity stays centred on colour, material invention, tactile construction and an open approach to who can wear the clothes.