Rising Designer Zoya Garg on Figure Skating and Fashion Design

Every designer has their signature pieces, the ones that are instantly synonymous with their ethos and style. For emerging label By Zoya, founded by Zoya Garg, it's pretty much all of them, because each piece is so intrinsically her.

After moving to New York alone at age 18, she discovered her love of visual arts, something that helped to provide an escape and comfort after leaving home. Her work quickly started to gain recognition online, and she eventually began to create clothing that featured her graphic designs. Fast forward a couple of years, and the By Zoya brand is one that's garnered a loyal community of fashion fans and it-girls, continually drawn to her hand-drawn graphics and trend-forward pieces.

Speaking about her inspiration, Garg tells us that it's her background in competitive figure skating which sparked an interest in design in the first place. "Designing my own figure skating competition dresses was how I got my first experiences in design, and I see that reflected in a lot of my design choices, such as open-backs and sleeve details."

Read on for our interview with rising designer Zoya Garg as we discuss her journey from figure skating to fashion design and everything in between.

Tell us a bit about how you started the brand. What was the driving force for you?
I'd say the brand was originally born from my passion for illustration. In 2019 I started by drawing graphics that reflected my own life in New York along with aspirational versions of my life. At the time I had just turned 18 and moved to New York, I was living alone and turned to visual art as an escape, or maybe a comfort. When some of these graphics gained popularity on social media, I decided to sell them as graphic tees, as well as hand-painted leather jackets.

As we evolved into a cut-and-sew process, I developed my designs by imagining what my fictional graphic characters would wear, and what I thought the real-life it-girls would wear. At the time, my college bedroom was my office, my warehouse, and everything in between, so to say I was immersed in it would be an understatement. Since then, my hand-drawn graphics have remained a core part of our brand identity, from all our custom prints to our labels, stickers, campaign videos, and everything in between. I think the driving force in all of it has been seeing the imagined world of By Zoya not only come to life but become a part of other people’s world.

Where does your inspiration come from? How do you know when it's time to create something new?
I find inspiration in many places throughout the creative process. As a brand, I focus on giving essential wardrobe pieces a unique and personal flair. So when thinking about what makes a piece essential, my inspiration comes from practicality and utility. For instance, our fully reversible Kaia jacket, or our Jensen shrug that adds sleeves to any top, were born from this approach. When I find holes in my wardrobe or think of ways to enhance existing staples, I know it's time to create something new! When designing the actual silhouettes, I pull a lot of inspiration from my competitive figure skating background. Designing my own figure skating competition dresses was how I got my first experiences in design, and I see that reflected in a lot of my design choices, such as open backs and sleeve details.

Who would you say you design for?
Since the brand was born through my illustrations and into this imagined world, I think I design for anyone that wants to be a part of it! I know it's not for everyone, but it is definitely so rewarding and special to find the people that get it, and I hope they feel the same about us!

What can you tell us about your creative process, where do you begin?
I try to take essential wardrobe pieces and give them a unique or personalized edge, so typically, my creative process starts there. Looking at my own closet, focusing on what items I actually reach for, and where the holes are in my wardrobe. What kind of pieces do I wish existed? And then how can I make this special? This is where the fabrics with hand drawn designs, heart shaped cut outs, and fun feather sleeves come in.

After that I really zero in using storytelling, who am I dressing and where is she going? This ties back into my original illustrations, creating a world for the clothing item to live in. Once the imagined picture is clear, the graphics come together with photography and videography to share my imagined world around the collection with our community.

I still shoot the majority of our campaigns myself or with my very first friend in New York, Andy Babcock. When we first met freshman year of college he had hacked his camera to shoot 4k video, and we've been creating together ever since. For me, it's so important to work with people that understand my vision and can push it even further.

For emerging brands and designers, we know that visuals are super important for communicating your message. How would you describe the visual aesthetic of the brand?
I think our visual aesthetic is somewhere at the cross section of fun cartoon graphics and iconic city girl imagery. We use storytelling to create a world for our clothes to live in, which usually focuses on it-girls on the move, from running errands to running away overseas.

If you could collaborate with one major label or designer, who would it be and why?
My dream would be to collaborate with Coach or their new brand Coachtopia! When my mom immigrated to the US from India, she got one of their soho buckle bags, which 25 years later I carry around daily. That bag has always made me feel a personal connection to the brand. Over the past year, I've had the pleasure of working with Coach in various capacities outside of my brand, and I've grown to love and appreciate them even more. I've learned so much from those experiences!

Coachtopia, their new brand, really goes the extra mile to interact with the New York community and work with them to perfect their products. This is something I've been trying to emulate on a smaller scale. Like By Zoya, they use fashion creatives in New York as models, aligning themselves as a community-driven brand, which I aspire to be. Plus, as someone who loves adding a unique edge to essential pieces, there's nothing more essential than an iconic Coach Soho bag!

Finally, what are your hopes for the future of By Zoya?
I'm excited to see how fashion evolves. I think brands are already becoming more than just stores, so finding more ways to interact, share with, and give back to our community is one of my main goals. Dreaming big, I'd say a permanent retail space in New York someday would be the dream, somewhere we can really connect and build with our community. When I first shared my illustrations online, I couldn't have dreamed of the world it would create. So really for the future, I couldn't hope for more than continuing to draw, and continuing to grow our community.