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“A Complex Tapestry of Emotions”: Zak + Fox’s Earthy New Autobiographical Textile Collection

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DecorIssue 14 — Wild Color

“A Complex Tapestry of Emotions”: Zak + Fox’s Earthy New Autobiographical Textile Collection

April 2, 2024

How many cultural references, personal tales, and feelings can you layer into a fabric design? At Zak + Fox, Zak Profera’s textile house in NYC, each pattern comes with stories both hidden and told.

The same goes for the places he chooses to present his work: Zak has photographed his designs in a 15th-century palazzo, a historic Connecticut nautical setting (see Swept Away: Zak + Fox Launches a Maritime Collection), and, recently, in County Tyrone, Ireland, where Harvest, his earthy, multi-nuanced latest collection, was unveiled at the Ulster American Folk Park, an open-air museum of Irish and American frontier-era 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.” Come see.

Photography by Evgenia Arbugaeva, styling by Andrew Stewart, courtesy of Zak + Fox (@zakandfox).

the textile collection was put together over a two year period of tumult for za 17
Above: The textile collection was put together over a two year period of tumult for Zak: “Just as my long-term relationship was 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. Shown here, Kaminari, “a pattern of both filigree and geometry”—and lighting bolts—used as a lampshade.

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.”

mori is a handwoven cotton stripe evocative of &#8\2\20;light wending its w 18
Above: Mori is a handwoven cotton stripe evocative of “light wending its way between layers of trees.” The textiles in the collection are designed for household use, and each comes with an origin story of inspirations and ideas.
furugi, a complex, textured stripe, is intended to evoke &#8\2\20;layers of 19
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.”
kinoko is a cotton linen ode to the fungi kingdom both above and below the grou 20
Above: Kinoko is a cotton-linen ode to the fungi kingdom both above and below the ground.
arashi shows &#8\2\20;fragile blossoms captured by a hurricane gale— 21
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, by my Shiba Inu Shinji.”
yūgen, an earth toned cotton wool, makes its debut as outsized patches on 22
Above: Yūgen, an earth-toned cotton-wool, makes its debut as outsized patches on a bedcover—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.)
most of the collection is earth toned, but the palette shifts with \100 percent 23
Above: Most of the collection is earth toned, but the palette shifts with 100-percent linen Otaki, a hand-printed pattern of “water cascading from a rocky cliff into pool after pool.”
&#8\2\20;a woolen tapestry abundant with life,&#8\2\2\1; shinji is an o 24
Above: “A woolen tapestry abundant with life,” Shinji is an ode to Zak’s late dog: look closely and, in addition to a bower of plants and flowers, you’ll see leaping, frolicking foxes.

As for the bushy tailed model, Zak says: “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.”

brassica, a heavy, \100 percent cotton, can be seen as &#8\2\20;both a map 25
Above: Brassica, a heavy, 100-percent cotton, 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 and designed in the same grand, old-world spirit.

More textiles we’ve been admiring:

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