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

The Run-Through with Vogue

In this episode of 'The Run-Through with Vogue,' Nicole Phelps interviews Henry Zankov, the newly appointed artistic director of Diane von Furstenberg (DVF), just before his dual

Key takeaways

• Henry Zankov credits Diane von Furstenberg with helping him fully embrace and master the use of color, a core element of both DVF and his own brand.
• Zankov's appointment marks a significant homecoming to DVF, where he began as a knitwear designer in 2014, highlighting long-term creative alignment.

Main topics

• Henry Zankov's appointment as DVF's new artistic director
• His journey from knitwear designer to creative leader at DVF

Notable quotes

"Working alongside Diane von Furstenberg herself has been a formative experience, he said, crediting her with helping him fully embrace color."

Conclusion

Henry Zankov's return to Diane von Furstenberg as artistic director marks a powerful fusion of legacy and innovation. With his

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:05) This 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 Van Furstenberg'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. Speaker 4 (0:38) I Speaker 1 (0:38) know. I remember going to Speaker 4 (0:39) visit him in his studio that year because that was a year that I was on the panel. And it was so great to see his friendship with Rachel of Diotima flourish. I think that's where they kind of became close. That's how they became close. Yeah, I can't really, I can't wait what he'll do. 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 Speaker 1 (1:04) fit. Speaker 4 (1:04) I Speaker 1 (1:05) 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. Speaker 4 (1:25) Oh, my God. I 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 Speaker 1 (1:33) 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 Dawn Long is filming a movie about her new collection with some of her friends and collaborators, and 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's showing in London for the past few years, and he is bringing his show to New York. And that's going to be, I think, a very glamorous big moment. Speaker 4 (2:49) Yeah, I'm super jealous. He's so great. His shows are so fun. So you're in for a big, big treat. Speaker 1 (2:56) 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 potato fries at the same time. Speaker 4 (3:09) Get it in. Get that protein and the fiber in. Speaker 1 (3:13) Exactly. Speaker 4 (3:15) God, I know that feeling. You always feel like you're running late. Oh, my God. Speaker 1 (3:19) It's Speaker 4 (3:19) like Speaker 1 (3:19) hell on the nerves. I 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 Speaker 4 (3:45) of my favorite Speaker 1 (3:45) dresses. I love that color so much. Thank you. I loved it too. I love what Rachel's doing at Proenza Schooler, so I'm excited to see the Proenza show. Kallmeyer is always a show that I love and a brand I wear a lot, so 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 year it's Speaker 4 (4:18) at Speaker 1 (4:18) the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Any parties? That's Speaker 4 (4:21) a Speaker 1 (4:21) good question. Not that I'm the big party girl. There are actually, I'm going to four parties tonight. No, how do you, 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. DVF is having an after party. Dior is having an event with A24. 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 Ru Kembo Chanel store, but with all Chanel, famous, 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. I really think. 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. Speaker 4 (5:23) Oh, I can't wait to see that. I guess I'll probably won't be on for long. Is it a short run? I think it's probably Speaker 1 (5:30) a short run, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up moving around. Traveling. Yeah. Yeah. So that sounds fun. Yeah, 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. Speaker 1 (5:51) 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. Yes, 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. Anna was very, so she stayed till the bitter end. Oh, that's the thing about tennis. It can be, those games can go on forever. Not for me. Wait, Choma, speaking of late nights, tell me about your Venice experience. You looked so glamorous. Oh, my God. Speaker 4 (6:42) 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. So I had to shop my closet, which was fun. And I was there with our lovely colleague, Francesca Ragazzi. She looks so Speaker 1 (6:57) fabulous. I love seeing the two of you posing together because you have very complementary but opposing styles. Speaker 4 (7:03) Yeah, she wore this beautiful Givenchy dress. Speaker 4 (7:08) 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 Amal 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. Oh, I watched The Pride and Prejudice this Speaker 1 (7:35) weekend. Yes. Speaker 4 (7:36) Oh my God, they lost their luggage 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 non-Nah kind of 90s from the 1930s that Paloma had recommended. So that was my big kind of shopping excursion. Oh my God, did you get some Speaker 1 (8:13) beautiful 90s? I Speaker 4 (8:14) 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's so... Oh, and I saw Wild Horse 9. Oh, you did? How was it? I've heard mixed things. It Speaker 1 (8:27) was great. Speaker 4 (8:27) 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 Easter Islands. Will you tell everyone what it is? So it's a film starring John Malkovich and it's kind of based on... They're CIA agents in the 60s and it's around, they're the American CIA agents kind of intercepting a coup. Wow. So it's very, Speaker 1 (8:57) it's really good. It's really good. He was one of my best dressed, I have to say. Liam wrote about it. He was wearing like a Dior ruffled sort of 19th Speaker 4 (9:07) 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. Speaker 1 (9:39) I'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 in The Speaker 2 (9:47) McQueen. I Speaker 1 (9:47) thought she looked incredible in that sort of diaphanous McQueen. And then we all loved that she didn't shave her legs. I didn't even notice that, but I love that. We wrote it up. I love her. We decided it was breaking news. Speaker 4 (10:00) It's so good. It's so good. I've kind of been loving Robert Pattinson and Suki. waterhouse together they're very good at their couple style aren't they they're just they're just so and you can tell that they're just so in love I 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 I mean wouldn't you Speaker 1 (10:28) if you were looking at Penelope Cruz I Speaker 4 (10:30) know I know so yeah it was 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 showcased all of the people behind the Atelier in his last show. As you were entering the exhibit, there were pictures of every single craftsperson. And there were some of the craftspeople at work. as part of the exhibit, it was quite spectacular. Es 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' new space, which I've heard is incredible. So I'm a bit sad and I didn't get time to do the biannual because I had to get back for Jay-Z, obviously. Oh Speaker 1 (11:29) my Speaker 4 (11:29) God, Speaker 1 (11:29) yes. Speaker 4 (11:29) that? 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. So it was really great. He brought out Dave and Sam Pho, 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 Wow. So fun because you're so close to the action. Yeah. So it's been a really Speaker 1 (12:02) 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 Speaker 4 (12:12) 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. Christopher 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 chiquer? 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. be ready to spot that on the street style. Speaker 1 (13:01) I'm excited to see you wear that. Yeah. Speaker 4 (13:03) I feel like Simone Speaker 1 (13:04) x Adidas x Choma is the recipe I want. Speaker 4 (13:10) 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. Speaker 1 (13:25) 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. I 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 Bellizzi. 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. What have you been watching, Choma? Well, I've seen... a couple of episodes of Pride and Prejudice, so you're in Speaker