It's a Botched World, Says Natasha Zinko
There's always something going in Soho, no less on Brewer Street where you'll find WRHS13, the concept store Ukrainian designer Natasha Zinko opened two years ago as an experiential hub for everything from matcha to the NZ bunny. Zinko likes to bring people together, to find a little fun and hope in the darkness, whether that's in store or through the collections she designs for her namesake brand which launched in 2011. For the Ukrainian designer, the conflict which rages on in her home country has only driven Zinko further; to have a voice is more important than ever. We caught up with the designer about her latest A/W 25 collection BOTCHED.
Where did you want to take the Natasha Zinko character this season in particular? How has working with Betsy Johnson evolved them?
Natasha Zinko: I love my synergy with Betsy. This is our 9th collaboration. This season was continuing the PLASTIC dialogue constructed in S/S 25, continued in REDEFINING beauty in Pre-Fall 25 and now BOTCHED in A/W 25. Styling proposals from Betsy are important for the final execution of my A/W 25 collection.
The collection is led by this aesthetic of what you describe as ‘mismatched combos’, which are in fact one-pieces you can zip in and out of. Where are they rushing to?
NZ: Rushing, no. I constantly consider surviving/pivoting/recreating stability. Newfound, exaggerated proportions emerge through paradoxical layering in mismatched athleisure combos; form-fitting skinny tank tops stretched improbably over spacious bulky doubled hoodies, all of it fused with one dividing zip and all volumes bulging outward.
Hope and humour are important in the NZ world. How have you been, and how was it working on this collection?
NZ: It’s one botched world out there; twisted, shrunken, layered, inside-out, unrecognisable. In search of an attire more reflective of this topsy-turvy zeitgeist, all the while sneaking in a big, cutesy schoolgirl’s bow or two à la the good-old-innocent-days for nostalgia’s sake. The question is whether there is anything more fundamentally human than attempting to cover it up; patch up the holes with pretty fabrics. It’s a retrospective from beginning of career. Not doing a show gave me the opportunity to look into my previous design archives with a new perspective that I am now living.
