Zankov is a knitwear brand featuring bold graphics, intense colors, and high-quality textiles. The owner and designer, Henry Zankov, has channeled his previous experience and love for the visual language of design into creating fascinating knitwear. SHEESH! had the opportunity to find out more about the inspirations behind Henry’s work in fashion, along with his advice for blossoming designers.
Henry has accumulated nearly fifteen years of experience working in the fashion world for designers both big and small. He has designed for Diane von Furstenberg, Jason Wu, DKNY, and other labels in New York and across Europe. As a senior knitwear designer, Henry was very involved in the process from start to finish of creating knit pieces, and he has taken all that knowledge and applied it to his own brand.
Henry chose to specialize in knitwear because he loves the tactility of knits and the capability to create his fabric from scratch. He became fascinated by the actual process of creating the textiles: “Knitwear is a process where you start with a fiber and create a piece of clothing or a textile using interesting stitches and techniques. I also love to play with the fiber and yarn itself and contradict the process by employing natural and unnatural materials to create a surface which is not typically expected in knitwear.” The pieces we see at Zankov are colorful and feature patterns in contrasting hues.
Obviously your graphic prints are an enticing part of your designs. Where do you draw inspiration from?
“I am very much inspired by art, sculpture, old 1960s typography and interior design. For art I love to look at the work which came out of Paris and New York in the 50s and 60s, in particular artists such as Fernand Léger, Picasso, Ellsworth Kelly and Jasper Johns.”
Henry’s brand is not limited to only sweaters, but also includes knit shorts and an eye-catching striped blanket made of brushed mohair. Zankov has also released other home decor goods, including colorful brushed mohair pillows as a part of a collaboration with Gia Prints. You can now shop Zankov sweaters from Edition 1, and check out the lookbook for Edition 2 (which is available for preorder) online.
Do you have any advice for young designers looking to break into the fashion industry?
“I think these days we are flooded with so much information and it can be quite overwhelming, especially for a creative person. I think it’s very important to know yourself and to stay curious throughout the creative process and focus on the journey, not the end result.”
Check out Zankov’s Instagram to stay up to date on future releases!
