Henry Zankov Makes His Debut at Diane von Furstenberg for Spring 2027

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Henry Zankov knows the DVF brand well. He worked there for four years before launching his eponymous label in 2020, then returned in 2025 to design an exclusive capsule collection, which debuted at Bergdorf Goodman. So his appointment to the post of artistic director earlier this year was a bit of a homecoming. And hopes were high that his NYFW debut — the brand’s first runway show in almost a decade — would help reestablish it in the upper echelons of the city’s (admittedly more commercial) fashion brands.

So far, he’s off to a good start.

The show opened with very standard DVF fare: a long sleeve dress with a wide collar in a classic DVF off-color leopard print, which looked like it had been lifted straight from the archive. Perfect for the office, but not exactly thrilling on the runway. This was followed by a (perhaps overly bold, but very DVF) pant suit paired with a graphic logo pussy bow blouse and a color-blocked wrap coat that looked like it could have been produced by the brand at any point in the last 20 years. If Zankov’s intention was to show where the brand had been in the years before his arrival, he needn’t have bothered.

Fortunately, he didn’t stay mired in the past for long. Look five, with it’s wrapped blue t-shirt top and gauzy purple pants, felt fresh and modern, while a pink satin top with flowing tails felt dramatic, yet easy when paired with wide leg khaki trousers by stylist Stella Greenspan.

There were some very successful prints in the mix: a  terazzo-esque print with shades of blue and purple and pops of orange on a black background was very successful, as was a red, green, and cream print that somehow managed to not look even a little bit Christmas-y.

The collage prints were the standouts, though. The first was shown with another very bold suit — this one in red instead of aquamarine and much more successful thanks to it’s more relaxed silhouette and fabric — and again a little later paired with a matching skirt, which was easily the best look of the show.

Animal prints are a DVF signature and appeared throughout, used to best effect in a sheer black and white leopard print maxi dress and pants and a black, white, and purple leopard print mini dress that looked like little more than a strategically tied scarf. Very effective, though, and quite lovely.

Of course there were plenty of DVF basics in the mix — fewer of those next time, please — and a number of archival prints that, honestly, should have stayed in the archive, but it was a promising collection overall and its standouts bode well for the DVF to come at Zankov’s very talented hand.

Check out the rest of the collection below.