“A Complex Tapestry of Emotions”: Zak + Fox’s Earthy New Autobiographical Textile Collection
The same goes for the places he chooses to present his new designs: Zak has photographed his designs at home in a 15th-century palazzo, n a historic Connecticut nautical setting (see Swept Away: Zak + Fox Launches a Maritime Collection), and, recently, in Country Tryrone, Ireland, where Harvest, his earthy, multi-nuanced latest collection, was unveiled in the Ulster American Folk Park, an open-air museum of Irish and American frontier buildings.
Zak describes Harvest as “a fantastical journey into the intricacies of the human condition: at its heart, the collection represents a complex tapestry of emotions born from profound feelings of love, loss, and hope.” Join us for a look.
Photography by Evgenia Arbugaeva, styling by Andrew Steward, courtesy of Zak + Fox (@zakandfox).
Above: The textile collection was put together over a two year period of great tumult for Zak: “Just as my long-term relationship coming to an end, I was having to take care of and say goodbye to my aging canine companion, Shinji, who is is the original Fox of Zak + Fox and the inspiration behind our brand story,” he tells us.
Several locations at the Ulster American Folk Park were chosen as backdrops “for their sheer beauty,” says Zak, explaining that he wanted to present the new designs—which have no ties to Ireland—”in an unspecified land, in an unspecified time.” Shown here, Kaminari, “a pattern of both filigree and geometry”—and lighting bolts—used as a lampshade.
Above: Mori is a handwoven cotton stripe evocative of “light wending its way between layers of trees.” All of the textiles in the collection are intended for use as upholstery, curtains, or pillows—and comes with an origin story of inspirations and ideas.
Above: Furugi, a complex, textured stripe, is intended to evoke “layers of sediment, the rings on a tree,” and “the record of a single garment’s journey through several lifetimes.”
Above: Kinoko is a cotton-linen ode to the fungi kingdom, both above and below the earth’s surface.
Above: Arashi shows “fragile blossoms captured by a hurricane gale—a picture of transcendence and change.” It’s 100-percent linen, and like many of the fabrics in Harvest, was inspired, Zak says by “Japanese lore, art, folk tales, and, of course, my Shiba Inu Shinji.”
Above: Yūgen, an earth-toned cotton-wool, is presented as out-sized patches on a bed cover—a look we’d like to re-create at home. Zak tells us, “we were referencing lighting from Hammershoi here—it’s a personal favorite.” (To understand what he’s talking about, take a look at A Culinary Space Inspired by a Painting and Julie’s own Minimalist Galley Kitchen in Brooklyn Heights.
Above: The collection remains rooted in nature but take a palette shift with 100-percent linen Otaki, a hand-printed pattern of “water cascading from a rocky cliff into pool after pool.”
Above: “A woolen tapestry abundant with life,” Shinji is an ode to Zak’s late dog, the Fox in Zak + Fox: “it is grand, lively, and, like Shinji himself, simply magnificent,” he writes. Look closely and, in addition to a bower of plants and flowers, you’ll see leaping, frolicking foxes. As for the companion model shown here, Zak explains: “Yes, he’s a real fox! His name is Silver, and he has a long resume of film and TV work. He was very serious, but also loved a good head scratch.”
Above: Brassica, a heavy 100-percent cotton of leafy greens, can be seen as “both a map of a countryside lush with vegetable bloom and a microcosmic look at the infinitely complex world contained within a single plant.”
Zak & Fox recently opened a new NYC showroom at 235 Park Avenue South; it’s double the size of its previous quarters but designed in the same grand, old-world spirit.
More textiles we’ve been admiring:
* The Campbell Collection: Textiles for All Over the Cottage
* Wayne Pate’s Pompeii: The Artist’st Latest Fabric and Wallpaper from Studio Four NYC
* Summer’s Backdrop: Block-Printed Table and Bed Linens by Studio Ford | BidBuddy.com
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