Zoe Whalen

Critic

Zoe Whalen is an artist and apparel designer based in Brooklyn, NY. Since the fall of 2021, she has been operating an eponymous label, Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen, under which she has showcased four collections during New York Fashion Week (2022–24). Her work has been featured and reviewed by publications such as Vogue, i-D, The New York Times, The Cut (New York Magazine), Cultured Magazine, Purple and more.

Her practice seeks to embody the longevity of well-made garments, guided by a larger movement towards slowness and craft. The forms of her work are sculptural and evocative, influenced by historic body-modifying undergarments and medieval silhouettes and blurring the boundaries between clothing, art object, performance and spectacle. She seeks to imbue each piece of clothing with the history of the textile that came before it, working primarily with secondhand or antique materials and prolonging the life of discarded and undervalued linens, tablecloths and quilts.

With a clothing construction background of 15-plus years and an education in womenswear and knitwear (BFA, Fashion Institute of Technology) as well as two post-graduate degrees in fashion design (Central Saint Martins, Parsons), she has worked primarily at the intersection of art and fashion with brands like Eckhaus Latta and BLESS. Whalen has a deep understanding of the foundational craft of garment making and teaches with a process-driven curriculum. Her aim is to help each individual student better understand their own unique aesthetic and artistic vision while guiding them in the process of translating their ideas into 3D, wearable objects.

Courses

Fall 2024 Courses

APPAR 3130-01 - JUNIOR: DESIGN I (FALL)
Level Undergraduate
Unit Apparel Design
Subject Apparel Design
Period Fall 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

APPAR 3130-01

JUNIOR: DESIGN I (FALL)

Level Undergraduate
Unit Apparel Design
Subject Apparel Design
Period Fall 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-09-04 to 2024-12-11
Times: T | 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM Instructor(s): Zoe Whalen Location(s): Canal Street Studios, Room 302 Enrolled / Capacity: 14 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

In Design/Draw II, Junior students focus on designing for knitwear, experimenting three-dimensionally as they explore the unique properties of knit fabrics. Color, texture, yard, and stitch variations are examined as students also design using the diverse properties of machine knitwear. Students build on self-expression and visual communication to place their creative voices firmly at the center of their design.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $200.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Junior Apparel Design Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

Spring 2025 Courses

APPAR 3135-01 - JUNIOR: DESIGN II (SPRING)
Level Undergraduate
Unit Apparel Design
Subject Apparel Design
Period Spring 2025
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

APPAR 3135-01

JUNIOR: DESIGN II (SPRING)

Level Undergraduate
Unit Apparel Design
Subject Apparel Design
Period Spring 2025
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2025-02-13 to 2025-05-23
Times: M | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Zoe Whalen Location(s): Canal Street Studios, Room 302 Enrolled / Capacity: 14 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

The class explores fashion and gender representations and aims to emphasize content and context in students' design work. Students focus on silhouette, form and proportion as they explore the structural possibilities inherent in the art of tailoring. They will sculpt the torso with original shapes, by inventing either a bolero, a caraco, a coat, a jacket, a manteau, a suit, a tuxedo, or an hybridation, an extrapolation, or a re-invention of these classic tailored garments, thereby creating a piece that defies sartorial codes or costume classification.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $200.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Junior Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design