Henry Zankov Is the New Artistic Director of Diane von Furstenberg

Knitwear designer and emerging New York Fashion Week favorite Henry Zankov has been named the artistic director at Diane von Furstenberg. The 45-year-old is the first to hold this position at the company, which will have him oversee the brand’s total creative vision, including collections and visual identity. He will make his DVF debut this September during New York Fashion Week. Nathan Jenden, who was brought on as the brand’s chief design officer and vice president, creative last year will report to Zankov.

This new job will actually mark Zankov’s return to DVF, as the designer first joined the company in 2014 under then-creative director Jonathan Saunders. Zankov remained at DVF for four years before he left and eventually started his namesake knitwear brand, Zankov, in 2020. He returned to the DVF fold last September when he designed an exclusive collection for the brand to much success.

“I have always been surrounded and inspired by strong women and Diane is the ultimate embodiment of that,” Zankov said in a statement. “The DVF woman is a rebel—confident, curious and independent. It is an honor and privilege for me to build on Diane’s legacy and to carry the brand into the future.”

Zankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and moved to the United States with his parents when he was nine. He was raised in New Jersey, where his proximity to New York City shaped his love of fashion early on. He took sewing classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology in high school and went on to officially enroll in the school to study women’s design, where he eventually gravitated toward knitwear. “I’ve always been drawn to softer materials, whether it’s jersey, sweaters, or silk,” he told W in 2024. “I really enjoy creating something from nothing. But it’s so tedious to knit, and knitting machines are so precarious. So I had to learn how to be patient.”

While in school, Zankov interned at the cashmere brand TSE and moved to Donna Karan upon graduation, where he acted as an assistant menswear designer. It was at DVF, though, that he said he found his love of color. That came in handy as he launched his own brand, which has become known for its bold hues and imaginative uses of knit. In 2023, Zankov landed his first wholesale account, with Net-a-Porter. That same year, he was a runner-up for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize, for which he received $100,000. In 2024, he was named American Emerging Designer of the Year by the CFDA. Since then, Zankov has become a staple in the New York Fashion scene, and he will continue to work on his brand alongside his new role with DVF.

Last year, global chief executive officer of DVF, Graziano de Boni, took the company back from its Chinese licensee and distributor Glamel. He began thinking about the future of the brand, known for its wrap dresses, when a colleague recommended he speak to DVF alum Zankov. That led to the capsule collection, as well as a friendship between the two men. “I came to the conclusion that Henry was the right person that could bring us that freshness and that modernity, and even broader, the cultural relevance that I’ve been working to re-establish for our product,” de Boni told WWD.

Furstenberg, meanwhile, has given Zankov her seal of approval. The designer is 79 and currently spends most of her time in Venice, Italy. She told Vogue that she and Zankov “come from the same tribe.”