Who’s styling Gen Z?
From dm’ing Alex Cooper to helping style Doechii for the Met Gala, Zoe ‘Zaz’ Gofman shares a behind-the-scenes look at dressing Gen Z’s biggest fashion inspiration.
So much attention is paid to what celebrities and influencers wear. But the real magic often happens behind the scenes. For Gen Z, the icons they’re mimicking are bold, eclectic, and unafraid to mix high and low styles. But who’s curating those looks and setting the tone for what’s trending with young people nationwide? Enter a new wave of young celebrity stylists, quietly shaping the aesthetic of a generation.
Zoe ‘Zaz’ Gofman is one of them. She got her start in the early days of the creator economy, working first for NYC-based Serena Kerrigan and then doing influencer marketing at a startup, before she cold dm-ed Alex Cooper in hopes of styling her friend Lauren (she said yes). Now, between New York and Los Angeles, the 27-year-old has styled everyone from Adriana Lima, Ian Harding, Hannah Berner, and Charlotte McKinney. And this spring, she assisted Sam Woolf, when he styled Doechii for the Met Gala.
I spoke with Zoe to learn more about what she sees Gen Z adding to their shopping carts and reaching for in their closets – and why. Spoiler alert, she’s picking up on fish and fruit summer, too.
Here’s our conversation, edited lightly for clarity and brevity.
What does your day-to-day look like?
It varies! Everyday is different depending on the job that I have coming up. Some days it could look like outreaching and market emails, reaching out to brands, and researching brands and designers that could potentially help me with my upcoming clients. Some days I'm on a photo shoot in New York City. Sometimes I'm on a photo shoot in LA. Some days I'm on two photo shoots in New York City and two photo shoots in LA. Some days it’s mood boarding. You’re working with clothes all day. You’re working with fashion all day, and you know, it’s pretty dreamy. I love what I do.
At The Up and Up, I’m focused on what’s trending with our generation, across industries. What are the biggest trends in Gen Z fashion right now?
People are loving the charm situation. They are loving the charms on their body, on their neck, on their bags. It started with the bag charms, and now it's moving to the neck and all this stuff. I'm seeing a lot of Gen Zers love the fish and the tomato and romanticizing the Italian summer situation. And now it's becoming a print in a way.
I'm seeing the stripe trends and the polka dots. I've definitely been seeing a lot of stripes on stripes, or stripes on polka dots, polka dots on polka dots. A lot of fun patterns. A couple years ago patterns were a thing, like colorful, crazy patterns. This summer, I think people are similarly attracted to those patterns again and patterns on patterns, but it's in a more chic way, which I enjoy.
This time last year, everyone was doing like, Sofia Richie, chic, quiet luxury, which I'm still on to be honest. But this summer, it's a little bit more pattern, happy oriented, which is not bad either.
Reading the tea leaves, why do you think these loud, kitschier prints and patterns are having a moment?
I’m very big on vintage fashion. I’m a huge vintage sourcer. I think they're the most iconic pieces, and they're the most unique pieces. So I try to source a lot of vintage myself and for my clients when I can and when I'm able to.
If you really look back at Dolce Gabbana vintage a while ago, and maybe even Chanel, honestly, they had these patterns, like in the 90’s and even early 2000’s, that were loud like this. Like oranges, tomatoes, lemons. And as history repeats itself, so does fashion. So I'm honestly not shocked by it at all.
That's why I always tell everyone, like, ‘Do not throw any of your designer things away that are a trend, because they will come back, and they'll end up being cool vintage pieces.’
I think it's also the fact that last summer, and last fall, and winter, everyone was doing very minimalist, and very simple, and quiet luxury (which is definitely something I hope that it stays a thing forever and ever and ever). But I think that people got bored, maybe a little, and they wanted to differentiate and to have some fun to come in.
I also think European summer for some reason has just become a hashtag literally and just a trend. Like, lemons in Italy. Oranges in France. And it’s giving European summer.
In terms of that European summer vibe, are these luxury trends replicated in more of an idealistic way? Where it’s like, maybe someone can’t afford to travel to Europe this summer, but they can dress like they’re there?
Yes. Hell yeah. I’m doing European summer, winter, fall, all season long.
That’s how I got into this space anyway. I grew up going to the South of France every single summer before all the influencers were going there. My dad’s European, and it was ingrained.
So yeah. If you’re in New York, dress like you’re in Europe, hell yeah.
One of your most high profile moments to date was when you assisted in styling Doechii for the Met Gala. She’s a Gen Z icon. Can you tell me about that experience?
I started following [Doechii’s stylist] Sam [Woolf] on Instagram when I saw her perform at the Grammys this year. She was wearing Thom Browne, and all of her dancers were wearing Thom Browne. And I was like, that’s f*cking crazy. Like, when I'm watching a performance, I'm never thinking about the performance. I'm mostly always thinking about the outfits. And I was like, whoever's doing this is doing a sick job, because they're mixing really amazing brands and designers. He did a look with Miu Miu and Thom Browne, for example. He's making it streetwear, and doing it in a way that's classy, makes it preppy, and not trashy. And I hadn't seen that before, so I was like, this guy is f*cking cool. He's mixing it with her genre of music and with what the Gen Zers love, which is like, a lot of accessorizing, and a lot of fun colors, and all this stuff to make a vision.
So when he had asked me to be a part of this project, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I totally get what he's trying to do. Like, I'm there in a heartbeat.’ And we basically put together all of her looks during Met Gala, after Met Gala, and then we kind of took the theme of Dandy and made her sketches come to life that week. We were adding the hat, we were adding the cigar. That was an idea that we all had. Like, we're gonna definitely smoke a cigar on the carpet. She’s wearing Louis Vuitton. Let's make a cigar Louis Vuitton. Let's have her wear her hair like this. Let's make sure her jacket hits this way.
Doechii’s massively popular with Gen Z audiences, and she’s a Gen Zer herself. Are there trademark elements of style that you think are really resonating with young people right now?
If you look at honestly like Alix and Ashtin Earle, they’re into the little short skirts, and they're just being very fun. A lot of accessories. All the Gen Zers are loving this Y2K comeback, low rise pants with the big belts, layering a bunch. We did a lot of layering on Doechii. Layering necklaces, stacking with rings. A whole big trend now is stacking rings, stacking bracelets, stacking everything, honestly, stacking tops. Stacking even with the Miu Miu boxers underneath a Miu Miu pant. And that's another form of stacking. And it's coming back this year where it’s like, underwear on top of shorts. I don't know why, but they love that stuff.
What brands do you think have a good read on that?
Miu Miu for sure. Even Cult Gaia and Siedrés. There are a lot of charms on bags. Even Rabanne. Old Rabanne. Retro-fit. Little mini skirts. Simon Miller. Little mini skirts that happen to be crochet.
What are your fall predictions for Gen Z fashion trends?
I think we’re going to stick with these light colors still, but make it fall. Vintage fashion, I don’t think it ever went away, but I think Gen Zers are going to continue to really get behind it. Every single celebrity went to [Jeff] Bezos’ wedding wearing vintage.
And lastly, who would be your dream person to style?
Miley Cyrus.
Noteworthy reads
The Death of Partying in the USA – and Why IT Matters, Derek Thompson
Survey Finds Teens Worldwide Are Lost in the Transition After High School, Bruno V. Manno for The 74
What is ‘vibe-based budgeting’? Over half of Gen Zers and millennials are doing it, Jennifer Matson for Fast Company
How Gen Z Is Buying Homes, Vince Dixon for The New York Times