Zac Posen: Rise, Fall, and Revival

Zac Posen's love of fashion and design began as a child, when he spent time in his father's studio. His father was an artist himself, and his form of art was draping fabric over boxes on a wall to create intriguing shapes. Posen recalls playing with scraps of fabric he found on the floor of his fathers studio as a child, wrapping them around dolls to create new designs. When he enrolled for pre-college courses at the Parsons School of Design at 16, Posen found himself surrounded by beautiful women that became the inspiration for his designs. His childhood friends remember him as exciting and lively, both as a person and as a creator.

Posen became a name to watch when he designed a pink silk party dress for Naomi Campbell (which I was unable to find a picture of) at the age of only 19. Two years later, after graduating and moving back home and beginning a clothing brand with his sister out of his parents' dining room, he had his first show. He describes this show as him and his friends almost pretending the put on a fashion show. They didn't know what they were doing and they really didn't know what a real fashion show should look like, so they just had fun with it. It was strange and unorthodox, but it seemed to capture everyone's attention. For the most part, critics raved about the raw natural talent that they saw, and predicted that Posen would go far.

Two years after his first show, Posen became sponsored by rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs. Combs cites his motivation to fund Posen as follows: “It was the way that I saw him look at a garment on a woman. He looked at it like he was a sculptor”. As he rose in the ranks of the fashion world, critics continued to praise his structure-focused designs and his creativity with form. Posen truly seemed to grasp the female figure and made clothing which enhanced it in ways that the fashion world hadn't seen in years.

With the recession around 2008, the House of Z struggled as financial backing slowly began to disappear. Posen was struggling as he was getting feedback from too many sides, and he was losing his own sense of creativity. He made a line for Target that was unsuccessful, and had a string of shows that were met with harsh reviews. It seemed that he had lost touch with his breathtaking design capabilities, and he strayed further and further away from what he truly loved. Although his earlier shows heavily featured his signature gorgeous gowns, his fall line from 2010 featured only trousers and mini dresses, leaving critics to speculate if the boy wonder had lost his touch.

After a few years of struggling, Posen made the difficult decision to fire his mother and hire Jillian Sinel as President of the Zac Posen brand. Posen cites this decision as rocky point in his relationship with both his mother and sister, but ultimately maintains that it was the right choice to move the brand in a more professional and economically stable direction. After a revamp of the company structure and with the help of a new support team, Posen was finally able to return to the structure-focused designs that had first put him on the map. The documentary "House of Z" focuses on his Fall 2014 collection as his revival line, and particularly on what they call the "green dress", which was a very technically complicated dress that basically could make or break the collection. It was completed successfully and made a stunning impact on the runway. 

 . This runway show was met with rave reviews once again, and Posen remains on the top of the fashion world today. He has partnered with countless brands such as Target, Delta Airlines, MAC, and many more and continues to design amazing dresses for inspirational women such as Rhianna, Michelle Obama, and Gwyneth Paltrow. His works continue to confound and inspire, and I personally am excited to see what he creates in the many years to come.

Works Cited:

http://zacposen.com/houseofz/
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/fashion/04ZAC.html
https://www.biography.com/people/zac-posen-594160
"House of Z" documentary