Zankov Spring 2027: Prepared to Blast-off

by · WWD
Zankov Spring 2027 ready-to-wear collection at New York Fashion Week.Giovanni Giannoni/WWD

Henry Zankov is now the second designer in New York to take on the pressure of both creating and presenting two collections during fashion week (his best friend Rachel Scott was the first).

And yet, only four days after his big debut for Diane von Furstenberg, he had enough energy to sprint around the swerving concrete runway inside the WSA building for his own brand. Floating above the city on the 39th floor, it’s amazing he didn’t catch altitude sickness.

If all that sounds like a whirlwind, Zankov would call it “Le Tourbillon,” the name of his show borrowed from the song title by Jeanne Moreau that inspired it.

For Zankov, listening to Moreau made him romanticize the ‘60s, when his mother immigrated to St. Petersburg wearing metallic platform heels with hope for a new future shoved in the pocket of her purple corduroys.

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He related that optimism to the Russian Space Race, which landed clearly in his spring lineup in chrome patent leather accents, a new material for Zankov, whose comfort-zone remains knits.

This season he presented some fabulous ones courtesy of a revived partnership with the artist Phillipine de Richmont Tunstall — her comic book-style solar systems certainly don’t look like anything you’d see in the DVF print archive.

Backstage, after kisses from both DVF and mama Zankov, he said: “The more I work on DVF, the more I notice the differences with Zankov.” While the latter can be just as sexy as the former, “it’s a little less obvious.”

He pointed to the opening minidress as an example, a Kelly green shift with a trailing panel of chiffon on top in the same color purple as his mother’s corduroys. Contrary to DVF’s famous wrap silhouette, it fell along Mod lines, not defining any anatomical curves.

That was a common theme as the lines grew wonkier and more enveloping, from a pair of fluorescent yellow trousers with gill-like panels folded in at the sides (sure to be a retail favorite) to the trio of finale looks with organza strips that inflated with every step.

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Even as Zankov gazes up at the stars, he’s staying grounded thanks to his first shoe line produced by Luis Onofree, a member of the Portuguese Footwear Association. (Obviously, platforms are involved.)

Having double the exposure at NYFW, Zankov seems prepared to blast off, but more immediately he was dreaming of a crash landing. Asked what his future holds, Zankov laughed and said: “Going to bed tonight.” Well deserved.