“King of Color” Henry Zankov on Coming Home to Diane von Furstenberg | PLUS NYFW Begins!

0:05This is The Run Through. I'm Chloe Mao. And I'm Choma Nardi. Choma, today's episode is with Henry Zankov. He is behind the brand Zankov that we all love. And he is Dionne von Furzenberg's new creative director. Oh, I'm so happy for him. I love Henry. As you know, this is my first year as a judge for the CBFF. And Henry was actually a finalist in 2024. So it's so fun and exciting to see designers whose careers are evolving after the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund and where their careers take them. I know. I remember going to visit him in his studio that year because that was a year that I was on the panel.

0:46And it was so great to see his friendship with Rachel of Diatima flourish. I think that's where they kind of became close. That's how they became close. Yeah, I can't wait to see what he'll do for DVF. I think he's got such an amazing eye for color, and I think it's a perfect fit. I do, too. I think it's going to be really fun. I visited him at his studio there recently with DVF, and he had such a robust mood board and was so excited, and so I think he's really jumping in. So I'll be at the show on Thursday morning, 9.30 a.m. I'm very excited. Going straight from Alice's first day of school. Oh, my God.

1:26I can't believe Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week is already upon us. Are there any shows that you're like super pumped for? You know, I have to say I love how at New York Fashion Week there is such a wide spectrum of very established names like we have Ralph Lauren today, Tory Burch, Michael Kors, and they do proper shows at real New York City landmarks. But then also there's such a scrappy know-how of how to make a moment from smaller brands that maybe don't have the budget for a runway show. Like Emily Don Long is filming a movie about her new collection with some of her friends and collaborators.

2:02And that's going to be shown at the restaurant Bridges. And I think that'll be a really exciting way. I know that there's another fashion funder who's hosting his presentation at a tea ceremony, a Japanese tea house, because his brand is Japanese and sort of draws on the practice of kintsugi. So I think that it's interesting to see how people really lean into the true sensibility of their brand and do creative things when, you know, bandwidth and budget are not always what people want them to be. However, I'm very excited for Connor Ives, who is usually, he's actually from New York, but has been, obviously, as you know, Choma showing in London for the past few years.

2:44And he is bringing his show to New York. And that's going to be, I think, a very glamorous big moment. Yeah, I'm super jealous. He's so great. His shows are so fun. So you're in for a big, big treat. I'm excited. I'm such a fan of his work. It'll be so fun to see it in person. Sorry, Choma. This is the first day of Fashion Week. and this is my 30-minute lunch window. So I'm eating my grilled chicken and sweet potato fries at the same time. Get it in. Get that protein and the fiber in. Exactly. God, I know that feeling. You always feel like you're running late. Oh, my God. It's like hell on the nerves.

3:21I actually have been running late. I feel like today everything's been, I've been delayed a few minutes, which is not a great feeling. Oh, no. Oh, no. I'm also excited about some of the other emerging designers in New York who everyone's buzzing about, especially after the LVMH Awards last week. I saw that, yeah. Lee is amazing. Colleen Allen was a finalist. Who you wore to the Met, one of my favorite dresses. I love that color so much. Thank you. I loved it too. I love what Rachel's doing at Porenza Schooler, so I'm excited to see the Porenza show. So Kallmeier is always a show that I love and a brand I wear a lot.

4:02So I'm always curious to see what Danielle is up to. Are there any big parties? I know Wes has a big anniversary show, right? Wes Gordon is having an anniversary show for Carolina Herrera. Kate is having, you know, they always have the sort of Saturday night big time slot moment. This time year it's at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Any parties? That's a good question. Not that I'm the big party girl. There are actually, I'm going to four parties tonight. No. How do you do, only in New York can you go to four parties. They're all business partners and people we want to support. And so very exciting. And then there's a net-a-porter party.

4:42DVF is having an after party. Dior is having an event with 824. Tom Sachs has this amazing exhibition that I got a preview of with his wife Sarah last week, which is he's basically created a simulacrum of the 31 Rue Kemble Chanel store, but with all historic Chanel suits and outfits that famous people have worn made out of plywood on hangers and Chanel jewelry made out of Legos, and it is heaven. Where is it? It's at his studio in Soho, and it opens tomorrow night as the opening party, and I'm so excited for people to see it because it's really special. Oh, I can't wait to see that. I guess I'll probably won't be on for long.

5:28Is it a short run? I think it's probably a short run, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up moving around. Traveling. Yeah. Yeah. That sounds fun. Yeah, there's that I'm excited about. Then on Friday night, Vogue is getting an award for Magazine of the Year from the Daily Front Row Award, so I'll be accepting that. and Saturday night there are a few parties. Vanity Fair is having a party. Bungalow 8 is coming back. And Connor Ives is having an after party on Saturday. So a few things happening. On Sunday I'm going to the U.S. Open finals with Rolex. I'm very excited about that. Oh, wow. I saw that there were the two Americans that faced off.

6:12Yes, exactly. The two guys. I know. Graham was very excited about that. That was so sweet. I love that they hugged at the end. That was really moving. I know. Apparently the match last night went until like four in the morning. Oh, gosh. And it was very, so she stayed till the bitter end. Oh, that's the thing about tennis. It can be those, those games can go on forever. Not for me. Wait, Choma, speaking of late nights, tell me about your Venice experience. You look so glamorous. Oh, my God. Well, you had a rundown of my thrown together outfit because I came back from vacation and didn't really have time to think too much about what I was going to wear.

6:49So I had to shop my closet, which was fun. And I was there with our lovely colleague, Francesca Ragazzi. She looks so fabulous. I love seeing the two of you posing together because you have very complementary but opposing styles. Yeah, she wore this beautiful Givenchy dress. And it is one of the most magical cities. It was really fab to be there. I went to a Cartier event the next day and I was sat next to Amar Clooney. And let me tell you, she is absolutely a dream girl. So glamorous, charming. She was there trying to matchmake Orlando Bloom, which was really fun. Oh, my God. And Emma Corrin, who we love, was there.

7:33Oh, I watched The Pride and Prejudice this weekend. Yes. Oh, my God. They lost their luggage. No. at Venice and still managed to be one of the best dressed. Isn't that crazy? Wow, that's impressive. I saw them show up to breakfast in like a tank top and jeans and they told me the story and I was just like, how did you still manage to be just effortless and amazing? So I was pretty impressed by that. And then I went to this really cool nighty store, kind of Italian nonna kind of nighties from the 1930s that Paloma had recommended. So that was my big kind of shopping excursion. Oh, my God. Did you get some beautiful nighties?

8:14I sure did. But it's going to be a while before I wear anything like that again, given the weather. But it was really magical. It was, it's so, it's like, oh, and I saw Wild Horse 9. Oh, you did? How was it? I've heard mixed things. It was great. Oh, good. I loved it. I mean, it's very kind of tongue-in-cheek, insidery, I think. But it is really beautiful and it made me want to go to the East Islands. Will you tell everyone what it is? So it's a film starring John Malkovich and it's kind of based on the CIA agents in the 60s. And it's around, they're the American CIA agents kind of intercepting a coup.

8:55Wow. So it's very, it's really good. It's really good. He was one of my best dressed, I have to say. He, Liam wrote about it. He was wearing like a Dior ruffled sort of 19th century clown collar. And I saw him in person and I literally almost fell over. He was so dashing. And I saw Liam there. Did you see any other movies? No, that was the one. That was the one. I saw Chloe Zhao in Conversation, which was interesting, but didn't get the scoop on what she's working on next. She's always one of my best dressed. She is. She's very understated and gorgeous. and she's so thoughtful in the way that she, just hearing her talk about her process was really interesting.

9:39I'm excited to see, I think it's primetime that Rob Pattinson and Phoebe Bridgers are in. Oh yeah, I know. I thought Phoebe Bridgers looked pretty great. I thought she looked incredible in that sort of diaphanous McQueen. And then we all loved that she didn't shave her legs. Oh, I didn't even notice that, but I love that. We wrote it up. I love her. We decided it was breaking news. It's so good. It's so good. I've kind of been loving Robert Pattinson and Suki Warhouse together. They're very good at their couple style, aren't they? They're just so, and you can tell that they're just so in love.

10:15I mean, speaking of being so in love, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. Oh, dream couple. Just, they just seem like, he genuinely seems to look at her like she's like, the sun is rising out of her. I mean, wouldn't you if you were looking at Penelope Cruz? I know, I know. So yeah, it was pretty great. Did you see any exhibitions or? I went to see the S. Devlin Home of Faber, which was pretty spectacular, The Island of Light. And it was all dedicated to craft. And they had kind of similar to the way that Peter Muglia did showcase all of the people behind the atelier in his last show. As you were entering the exhibit, there were pictures of every single craftsperson.

10:59and there were some of the craftspeople at work as part of the exhibit. It was quite spectacular. S. Devlin, who's famous for, I mean, so many things, worked with Beyonce and just everyone you can imagine. So it was great to see that. But I didn't have time to go to that. I really wanted to go to see the new Dries, Dries' new space, which I've heard is incredible. So I'm a bit sad and I didn't get time to do the biennial because I had to get back for Jay-Z, obviously. Oh my God, yes. How was that? Oh, it was really great. It was really great. I haven't seen Jay-Z live in years. And I think I saw him last with his wife on the Run Tour.

11:42So it was really great. He brought out Dave and Sam Fo, two big, amazing British artists. And it was just, it's the stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is, it's just quite an experience seeing it in a stadium when we were on the riser, which was really so fun because you're so close to the action. Yeah, so it's been a really fun-filled, packed week. Choma, I want to know what you're excited about for London Fashion Week. Oh, there's so much I'm excited about. Our friend Sean McGurr, who's the creative director of McQueen, is going to be showing for the first time in London, so we're all very excited.

12:21Christopher Kane is coming back with Mulberry, which everyone is super pumped about as well. There's a big H &M show. There's a big M &S show, which M &S is kind of, what would you compare Marks and Spencers to? Have you heard of it? Yeah, I've heard of Marks and Spencers, but I don't know what you compare it to. It's not like Target, right? It's like a little chic-er. No, no. Yeah, it's a really specific British band and people are very, it's very beloved and it's having a bit of a resurgence. So they're doing this big show. And then obviously we have our faves. Simone Rocha has her Adidas collaboration this week, so she's doing some events in the run-up to Fashion Week.

12:57So be ready to spot that on the street style. I'm excited to see you wear that. Yeah. I feel like Simone x Adidas x Choma is the recipe I want. Yeah, there's a shopping event, and I'm going to have to be quite restrained. So let's see how we go. But no, it's going to be a fun week. I just hope the weather holds up. But, you know, please, El Nino, be kind. But it's going to be fun. It's going to be super fun. Yeah, I'm excited. We have a fun, it feels like a lively fashion week here. And then just because why make things easy, we also have the Emmys on Monday night. Oh, my goodness. I forgot that.

13:39I know. Unfortunately, I did not. Monday night, we're also hosting an event for celebrating Juilliard and the students who we featured in our fashion story, photographed by Theo Wenner and styled by Bianco Belizzi. That's really one of my favorite stories in the September issue. Such a good story. Thank you. I love it. I love those kids. And they're all coming. They're going to perform. And Gustavo Dudamel, the maestro himself, is joining. And so I think that'll be very exciting. And then we finish New York Fashion Week and I leave for Milan the following weekend. And I'm getting ready. I want to tee up some shows to watch late at night when I'm on my, you know, hotel bender between Milan and Paris.

14:29What have you been watching, Joma? Well, I've seen a couple of episodes of Pride and Prejudice, so you're in for a treat. I watched it this weekend. Marlene and I watched it. I watched episodes one through five, but they're withholding the last episode. Oh, I'm not that far along. I'm totally sold on Jack Loudon as Darcy. I think he's very good at making Darcy very human. And Olivia Colman is spectacular. Dolly Alderton, who adapted it, I think, did a very good job of writing up Mrs. Bennet's character. She's always sort of this just deafeningly annoying hag. And here you really, it's a much more filled out person.

15:06and obviously Fiona Shaw our queen is Lady Catherine de Bourgh so I felt very passionately yeah no it's so nice to have some good TV lined up I actually watched a documentary a new Basquiat documentary that was produced by his that's out next month that was produced by his sisters which give you a much better insight into what his childhood was like interesting so it's from the perspective of the family who've kind of been quite silent in in telling his story and it's very moving very heartbreaking but really a really good watch oh that's so mark your calendars in october all right i'm marking choma anything else to report any weekend plans well i i'm very excited to potentially get tickets for stevie wonder since you saw him so he's doing he's going on a world tour.

15:59I mean, Chelsea and I are very tapped in on this. Yes. So I really, really want to go. And I think tickets are available this Friday. So refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh. But yeah, weekend plans are very mellow. Just like lots of like, you need to rest up, you know, rest up, get my Z's in before like carbo loading. I know. But we're gonna see each cover in Paris. We're going to be staying in the same hotel. Oh my God, I'm so excited. I know, me too. All right. Me too. Bye, chum. Bye, love. That's it for the news of the week. The run-through will be back in a moment.

16:47I'm Vincent Cunningham. I'm Nomi Fry. I'm Alex Schwartz, and we host Critics at Large from The New Yorker. Each week, we pick a starting point. The new novel you can't stop thinking about, the movie everybody's seeing this weekend, and we kind of go galaxy-brand with it. Right, we take the ideas at the center of these things and trace them across history, across mediums, all to get to the bottom of why this particular text is important right now in politics and culture and also in your everyday life. We go highbrow, we go lowbrow, we go everything in between. Food culture to meme culture. Charlie XCX to Toni Morrison.

17:24K-pop to the Kennedys. From horror movies to heated rivalry. From the Oscars to the Met Gala. The Golden Bachelor to Wuthering Heights. Great expectations to Desperate Housewives. That's what we're talking about over here. We're having fun. It's Critics at Large from The New Yorker. Every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts.

17:51Welcome, Henry. Thank you for having me. It's my pleasure to be here. Very exciting. How are you feeling in the lead-up to your DVF debut? It's a really exciting time. I mean, I've never obviously done two shows before, and working with Diane has been so incredible. I've known her since 2014, but now it's a little bit different. I get involved in everything. It's been also interesting to see the difference between both brands, You know, like DVF and Zankov, you know, there's definitely like we share color and pattern is definitely something that we both love so much. But I think as I work on both collections, I can see as they evolve how different they become, you know.

18:31But I'm excited to show you what we've been up to. I'm excited to see it. So as you mentioned, you've known Diane since 2014. It's a homecoming for you. You worked at the brand a decade or so ago. Yeah, exactly. I started there in 2014. What was your first job? A DVF. Yes. So I was doing the knitwear. So that's my specialty. I've always done, whether it's working for smaller brands or bigger brands, I've usually designed knitwear collections for different brands in New York and in Europe a little bit. And when I started there, they really needed a knitwear designer and to really grow that business.

19:11And so that was kind of what I was doing there. I was there for about four years, and then I left. I took a break, started working on my own brand, and then came back a couple of years ago to consult on the knitwear again at DVF as the company was brought back in-house more. And as time passed, we decided, let's do this, you know? Let's do this all the way. So from your point of view, what does Diane and her brand stand for? what is the significance of the famous wrap dress she introduced in 1974, I think? Yes, right. It was launched in 1974. It's a little over 50 years now. The thing about it, we all know this, you know, the wrap dress has been a symbol of liberation, independence, you know.

20:01It's interesting because at that time, I feel when it came out, what she did was she really hit a nerve with women. I feel like not only as a person, you know, Diane Ruffin for the book herself, but also her message of, you know, seduction and confidence. And, you know, I feel like the wrap dress, the fact that it's in Jersey is a fabric that a lot of designers don't really appreciate enough or use enough. And she really took that, you know, almost like a commodity, you know, almost like a fabric that, you know, like a signature for her. And, you know, I think Jersey has a sensuality to it and a fluidity.

20:38And I think with the wrap dress, what it did is it created a kind of, I guess, a doorway, I feel, for women. You know, I feel like at that time there was still a formality in the way women would dress. And I feel like slowly with the wrap dress, it kind of, I wouldn't say it's casualized things, but it definitely brought an element of sensuality for women. Right. I think we have to, like, try to put our head back in that space and realize in 1974, like, you know, 10 years earlier, women were still wearing gloves and hats when they went out. And not just for formal occasions, but think of Betty Draper on Mad Men.

21:18She, you know, wore gloves, you know, a lot. And so the wrap dress, women responded to it, I think, as you say, for sensuality, but also for the sense of ease, right? Yeah, exactly. Like it's one piece of fabric, you tie it on. There's no zippers, there's no buttons. And I think this idea that like something that's so simple can be so impactful, I think people couldn't get their head around that right away. And they finally did, you know. But I think that Diane's message has always been about this sense of ease. Everything has to feel, it's not about fashion for her. It's really about the woman and the body.

21:56And I think that's what the wrap dress really represents as well. I remember when I got into vintage shopping and thrift shopping in the 90s, you could still stumble upon a vintage, an archival DVF dress, wrap dress from the 70s. Do you see them anymore or they've really become collector's items? I see them, I mean, we see them often in the office because, you know, we go to her archives. She has this incredible archive in Connecticut where they have all the raptresses from the beginning to now, all organized by season, by year, by color, by print. And it's really incredible to see how it's evolved from then to now.

22:36And the classic raptress hasn't really changed. It's still made the same way, pretty much in the same fabric. You know, we have the classic, you know, prints that she's known for. And then every season we do new ones. But it's definitely a garment that has really withstood the test of time for sure. And I think it continues to be relevant. Yes. So I have to know, are you putting a wrap dress in your debut? I can't say yes yet, but we have been working on the idea of wrapping the body in general. So you will see nods to rapping for sure in the show and in the collection in general. And there might be a rap dress.

23:18Surprise. We'll see. So my colleague Max Berlinger recently named you one of the kings of color of 2026. I don't know if you saw that. We noticed that the new collections were very colorful. And we put you in a group of incredible colorists. and I even wore color for you today. So were you always attracted to color like this? And talk about how you think of it when you work, especially at your own line, Zankoff. I think of unusual color combinations as well as maybe prints or patterns that some people might say are quite clashing and yet they work together for you. I mean, for me, I never, I was always drawn to color, whether it's like art or interior design or, you know, somehow I never really worked with it until I started working at DVF.

24:17It was with Diane, working closely with her and the team that I was able to really embrace color. Like I was always fascinated with it, but I didn't know how to work with it fully on the body yet. And then I started to play with color. And that's kind of when I started to experiment with it. And then when I started working on my own brand, that's when I really embraced color fully. For me, color is really, really powerful. I think color is transformative. It has energy. When you look at a flower, when you look at the sky or a piece of art or a painting or a song you hear, color to me immediately takes you somewhere.

24:59And that's how I choose color. Like if I see even what you're wearing, you know, like color has electricity to it. It has energy to it and it speaks to you. And so for me, I'm always I love colors that have a vibrancy to them and it doesn't have to be saturated or bright. It's something that, you know, really, really takes you somewhere, whether it's a memory or, you know, a moment in time. And I love colors that don't don't work together. For example, people always say, like, don't mix this with this. But for me, the more clashing it is, the better. Is there anything that you've seen, a piece of art this summer or an experience that you had in nature that is really resonating with you for spring 27?

25:45I mean, I always think nature is the most incredible source for color inspiration, especially, like, you know, botanicals, flowers. the summer sky for me has been you know we've had some amazing you know summer skies this the summer in new york and um every time i leave the office and i just look at the sky and it's like you know one day it's lavender the next day it's like a degradé of orange and blue that to me would be what sticks out but i also see color through um like sound myself personally like i if i see it like I hear a song or something, it reminds me of a color as well. So that's also another way that I kind of look a color.

26:25What's on your Spotify list at the moment? What am I listening to? I've been listening a lot to Bossa Nova music lately, which is interesting. I mean, I usually don't, but I've been really looking at, you know, the 1960s. Again, like people always say, like, oh, you're so, like, your color palette's always so, like, 60s, which is true in a way. But I never, like, I never think about it literally. So I've been looking a lot at like Brazilian architecture from that time, like Oscar Niemeyer. And then as I listen to the music again, things go in circles for me. Like sometimes I'll go back and I'll be like listening to like PJ Harvey and Sonic Youth.

27:02And then I go to like, you know, jazz. It just depends on the mood right now. But you'll see there'll be some interesting music at the show as well. Yeah. Looking forward to that. So you have a unique setup right now. When I went and met you when this news was announced, I learned that not only are you working in the DVF studio, but you've set up the Zankoff studio in the West 14th Street headquarters. So I'm very curious how that's working out, how you split your time. And also, I'd like to hear a little bit about the challenges that you have, if any, sort of dividing your brain. Yeah, no, absolutely.