Zoe Grinfeld is a fashion designer and interdisciplinary artist currently based in Providence, RI. Her work explores nostalgia and storytelling, blending upcycled materials, vintage textiles, and digital custom fabrics to create unique, narrative-driven garments. Zoe graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Apparel and a concentration in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences. Her work has been featured in WWD, Vogue, Elle, The Boston Globe, and on The Tamron Hall Show's Up & Coming Designer Series. She has received awards from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Fashion Scholarship Fund, and Project Runway: Threads, among others.
Selected middle school archive images, 2010-2012.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
My work is rooted in deep nostalgia, relation to objects, and compulsive making. The garments I make are an ever-blooming mix of unique and precise coherency mingled with repetitive object assembly and the niche social codes of queer girlhood shaped by coming of age in a transitional era between analog nostalgia and digital immediacy.
Growing up in rural Connecticut with no sewing machine, I used anything I found in my parents’ basement to hand craft clothing from unconventional objects. I began organizing fashion shows at age 12, showcasing garments made from materials such as doll heads, board games, and other items sourced at yard sales and secondhand shops. In recent work, I’ve revisited concepts from my early shows, further developing these childhood prototypes into fully realized collections.
Looking back at my body of work allows me to trace the dots that connect various stages of my life, serving as a visual and emotional autobiography. Each garment I create tells a story, encapsulating moments, emotions, and personal growth. When I revisit childhood prototypes or turn past experiences into new work, it feels like conserving a small piece of time or bottling a memory. It's a way of connecting with my past, understanding the evolution of my creative process, and finding solace in the continuity of my work over the years. Moreover, every new creation becomes a seed planted for the future, offering a reservoir of experiences and emotions to draw from in my ongoing artistic journey.
The Colchester Bulletin, 2011.