zoe gustavia anna whalen is my name, an homage to two of my grandmothers, american teachers and housewives, both born to oklahoma, the most beautiful and alien landscape I have ever laid eyes on, straight from another world, she whispers dark secrets of the past, within a name rests so much power, and the audacity ! to make one such as yourself, remember such a ridiculously long title
handcrafted objects can long outlive us when we pay them the respect they deserve. each garment holds a history, found linens, discarded bedsheets and tablecloths, patterned into shapes and spirals that speak to the body, wrapping it in secret whispers
we are vessels for psychic communication that come to us in the form of dreams, emotions, premonitions, adornment becomes the alter at which we worship the symbiosis of body and mind
"ZOE GUSTAVIA ANNA WHALEN WANTS TO BE THE NEXT DESIGNER/ARTIST SUCCESS STORY, CAN SHE MAKE IT?" VOGUE, FEBRUARY 2024
"the only designer at new york fashion week putting dirt in her gift bags" CULTURED, SEPTEMBER 2023
"FASHION AS GROUP THERAPY" VOGUE, SEPTEMBER 2023
VOGUE 2.24 designer profile PURPLE 2.24 backstage NUMERO NETHERLANDS 2.24 cover GLAMCULT 10.23 cover VOGUE 9.23 nyfw review CULTURED MAGAZINE 9.23 designer profile LAMPOON 9.23 editorial VOGUE PORTUGAL 9.23 editorial OFFICE MAGAZINE 8.23 editorial ODDA 8.23 editorial VOGUE THAILAND BEAUTY 8.23 cover T MAGAZINE 7.23 interview GALORE 6.23 editorial VOGUE PORTUGAL 5.23 editorial ROLLING STONE 2.23 nyfw spotlight WWD 2.23 nyfw review VOGUE 2.23 nyfw review MAGASIN 2.23 nyfw review DISPLAY COPY 10.22 designer spotlight THE CUT 8.22 cover story TAKE CARE MAGAZINE 7.22 designer profile VOGUE 5.22 review NEW YORK TIMES 5.22 article METAL MAGAZINE 3.22 cover story NUMERO BERLIN 3.22 editorial
Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen is a New York based designer who handmakes garments that build an evocative narrative around craft and connecting with land, while reckoning with the contemporary fashion landscape. With a sustainability mindset at the forefront, Whalen utilizes premium quality found textiles to create sustainable designs that reference a pre-industrial era; elaborate corsets, embroidered coats, panniers and petticoats. Her designs are story-telling devices that challenge the fashion industry to embrace a radical slowness, sensuality and care.
Whalen’s New York Fashion Week runway presentations are site-specific performances at iconic NYC venues such as the Saint Mark's Church in the Bowery and Elizabeth Street Garden, where the garments become communication vehicles in a methodical procession. The Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen wardrobe is a universe of its own; it conjures a mass meditation and critical cultural commentary around efficiency, sustainability, craft and commerce.
After the release of just three collections, Whalen’s line has already emerged as a front runner in the press, defining the future of American Fashion through her unconventional, forward-thinking designs.
represented by native agents