About Zoe Designs
My mother inspired me from a young age to express myself artistically in a variety of ways. Be it sculpture, painting, cooking or fashion, beauty is part of my life. In the past, while growing up in Bucharest Romania, I practiced these passions with a desire and a necessity through a cold period of history.
My dad was instrumental for me as he and my mom knew that I would leave the country to settle elsewhere. He insisted that I have a knowledge that could be used anywhere. Accepting his advice I became a structural engineer but kept my design passions with me all the time.
In time I settled in New York City at the famous Chelsea Hotel and found myself surrounded with art and culture of all kinds, from the avant-garde to traditional. Being a Landmark, this inspired me to create The Landmarks of New York and experience a rebirth of my artistic capabilities. With this in mind I bring these silk scarves to you together with the life and the history of a great city and to the world beyond.
I am the Chelsea Scarf, and I like to dance! The smooth silk waving its beauty on the wonderful music of the Waltz makes my piano its best friend. The piano and the building share the same date of birth, 1886. It seems that they have been meant to meet and probably fall in Love. Let's dance whirling the Scarf in the air, and celebrating the beauty of old and new, tradition and start of, and perpetual creativity!
About the Artist and the Chelsea Hotel
The Chelsea was originally designed as a collaborative apartment building with tenants foregoing kitchens for a public restaurant. In my case though, the kitchen became a place to mix paints, prepare clay for sculpture and design clothing. As my story moves forward I realized the beauty of the Chelsea façade and decided to make it my focal point. In doing so the Chelsea T-Shirt was born, soon to be available. I can safely say that through the years, guests have brought my design home with them to all parts of the world.
Now it is the silk scarf which I am especially proud to bring to you. The design shows the wrought iron balconies with their sunflowers and tall clustered brick chimneys inspired by the Queen Anne style, sometimes called Victorian Gothic. The original architect of the building was P.G. (Philip Gengembre) Hubert, born in Paris and came to America in 1849 with his parents. His father was an architect. P. G. taught French in Cincinnati and Philadelphia. After turning down a professorship at Harvard he moved to New York City and started an architectural practice.
I hope you enjoy my scarf design and wear it with pleasure as I do. It was ‘launched’ at the Berlin Film Festival of 2022. At that time, the film “Dreaming Walls” was premiered. The motion picture by directors Amalie Van Elmbt and Maya Duverdier guides the viewer through a journey of various artists and issues that have taken the building and its occupants from a past filled with pleasure, and a little pain, as we look forward to a bright future.
About the Artist and the Statue of Liberty
With an appreciation of history, art and architecture I had “a Eureka Moment”. It is not just about one edifice, so what I want to bring to my audience is a series of Landmarks. The Statue of Liberty exemplifies my finding a new home in America. I was inspired to create the art and am so pleased to include it in my portfolio of products for you.
The relationship between America and France is forever embedded in history with this famous statue. The statue designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholde and its frame by Gustave Eiffel, two Frenchmen, she stands proudly in New York Harbor greeting people from around the world since 1886. When completed, New York’s first ticker-tape parade occurred with a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland. Edouard de Laboulaye, a staunch abolitionist, first proposed the statue. The sonnet by Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus” graces its base with some immortal words, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free’ which in 1883 were intended to offer a place of safety to those fleeing pogroms in Eastern Europe.
These words and their meaning prompted me to create The Statue of Liberty design. From bringing out the brilliant patina of the copper or showing the majestic Liberty shinning against the black background this design is framed by a border either emblazoned with small torches, or with the “H” that represents my “signature”. This scarf comes in two colors; one with a red border and one with a blue border. More versions will follow but as any business at the beginning it will take a little time to let the entire creativity to translate into designs. I would also like to offer some pleasant surprises whose answers I am waiting for! A little suspense is always welcome!
About the Artist and the Brooklyn Bridge
What better way to spend a lovely morning or afternoon than a romantic walk across New York’s beloved Brooklyn Bridge. Designed by German-born American civil engineer John Augustus Roebling with eventual assistance by his son Washington Roebling, the project was completed by Washington’s wife, Emily, an engineer herself, for the final eleven years of the project. The beautiful brick and stone towers are in the Neo Gothic style with their pointed arches. As wind tunnel testing was not available at the time of construction, Mr. Roebling designed the truss system to be six to eight times stronger than it needed to be. An elevated pedestrian and cycling promenade run in between the two roadways and 18 feet above them.
Understanding that the bridge designer was not only an engineer, but an immigrant, that due to its knowledge and “guts” designed a beautiful masterpiece. I became determined to include it in my series New York’s Landmarks. In doing so I was intrigued by the hybrid vertical and diagonal suspension cables of the bridge that separated what were actually two separate cites of Brooklyn and New York.
My design is a graceful play on the strength of the large brick piers and delicate suspension cables supporting a roadway that once took cable cars and trolleys. Hopefully I created a design which makes the entire image float effortlessly above water overlooking the city.
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The Art of Zoe
Red Island Over Water
The Lake
Perpetual Happy Birthday
Water and Fire
Brooklyn Bridge