Katharine K. Zarrella's Closet Sale
Writer, editor, and current Fashion Critic-at-Large at Document Journal, Katherine K. Zarrella's career has included roles at the Wall Street Journal, Style.com, V Magazine, VMAN, and New York's Parsons School of Design. In 2016, she launched the digital platform Fashion Unfiltered, which has since become part of the MA Fashion Communication program at Central Saint Martins.
Publications she's written for include Harper's Bazaar, i-D, W, L'Officiel, and SHOWstudio, among many others. She lives in New York with her three rabbits (Schiaparelli, Dalí, and Coco), several mannequins garbed in dramatic Comme des Garçons ensembles, and about 300 hats.
On Her Personal Style
“My style is a multifaceted monstress. Some days, she’s a black tulle tornado or a goth incarnation of Marie Antoinette. Others, she’s an ’80s bombshell who also happens to be in a coven; an unhinged Minnie Mouse; or a mischievous harlequin clown. I’ve been obsessed with Alice in Wonderland since I was a child, and subconsciously, I think I search for clothes that will take me down the rabbit hole. If I had to describe my aesthetic in Wonderlandian terms, I’d say she was the love child of the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter. And she would be best friends with the White Rabbit.”
Top Style Inspirations
“First and foremost would be my late mother, who taught me everything I know about fashion, style, and confidence (you can’t excel at the first two if you don’t have the third). She was unapologetically herself and I strive to emulate that every day. She also happened to be insanely chic, and I never leave the house without wearing at least one item that belonged to her.
Among my other style influences are Elsa Schiaparelli, Salvador Dalí, Marlene Dietrich, the Marchesa Luisa Casati, Coco Chanel, Isabella Blow, and Anna Piaggi.”
Among my other style influences are Elsa Schiaparelli, Salvador Dalí, Marlene Dietrich, the Marchesa Luisa Casati, Coco Chanel, Isabella Blow, and Anna Piaggi.”
Behind Her Pieces
“Everything I’m selling has a story behind it. But the five-pocket Chanel bag and I have been through a lot together. And I mean a lot. She accompanied me to interview Karl Lagerfeld at least twice. She attended fashion shows in New York and Paris between 2016 and 2019. She came as moral support for my job interview at the Wall Street Journal in 2019 (she’s also a lucky charm—I landed the gig and had some wonderful years there).
The most memorable moment we had together was probably walking into the late Virgil Abloh’s Fall 2018 Off-White show. There was a veritable mosh pit outside the door, with hordes of people clamoring to get in. A PR representative tried to pull me through the crowd, but my bag was sandwiched between two, or four, or ten fans who were smooshed together, pushing toward the entrance. I refused to move without my bag safely in tow and, after some panicked screaming, I successfully rescued her. She enjoyed the show.”
The most memorable moment we had together was probably walking into the late Virgil Abloh’s Fall 2018 Off-White show. There was a veritable mosh pit outside the door, with hordes of people clamoring to get in. A PR representative tried to pull me through the crowd, but my bag was sandwiched between two, or four, or ten fans who were smooshed together, pushing toward the entrance. I refused to move without my bag safely in tow and, after some panicked screaming, I successfully rescued her. She enjoyed the show.”
The Thrill of Collecting
"Acquiring incredibly special pieces—whether 100-years-old or brand-spankin'-new—brings me so much joy because I have immense respect for the designers who created them. I’m extremely passionate about whom I collect, and once I set my eyes on something, I will do almost anything to snipe it for my archive. I will haggle. I will trade. I will travel. I will beg. I will bargain. I will offer to sell a kidney. I will consider participating in various for-pay medical trials before begrudgingly determining that they’re too risky.”
Favorite Moments From Working in Fashion
“I’ve been in this industry for 20 years and have many spectacular memories. Also horrible ones. And plenty so hilariously bizarre that no one would believe they weren’t hallucinations. My most memorable, however, are the people I’ve met.
Betty Halbreich, who worked at Bergdorf Goodman for nearly 50 years, founded the Solutions personal-shopping department, and authored three books, was the quickest, wisest, most refreshingly pungent among them. She passed away on August 24 at 96 years old. I met Betty in her third-floor Bergdorf office while interviewing her for a profile in V Magazine. It was the first of many meetings in that office, during which we talked about fashion and how it’s changed, but also about the news, politics, writing, my pet rabbits, her abhorrence of the cardboard Amazon boxes perpetually piled in her lobby, whatever impossible conundrum I'd gotten myself into that week, her mother's appetite for knowledge and the book store she owned in Chicago.
While I was the fashion director of Off Duty at the Wall Street Journal, I interviewed Betty about a significant heirloom she’d received. She discussed her great-grandmother’s ostrich-feather and tortoise-shell fan, and how, when she was gone, she hoped someone would treasure it as much as she did. I was having major back surgery a few months later, and before I got my bionic steel spine, a big Bergdorf bag showed up at my apartment. Inside was an encouraging note from Betty and her great-grandmother’s fan. I framed the note and the fan. They now hang next to my bed. So, Betty is my favorite memory from working in the industry. And I hope that, someday, I can be ‘Betty’ for someone else.”
Betty Halbreich, who worked at Bergdorf Goodman for nearly 50 years, founded the Solutions personal-shopping department, and authored three books, was the quickest, wisest, most refreshingly pungent among them. She passed away on August 24 at 96 years old. I met Betty in her third-floor Bergdorf office while interviewing her for a profile in V Magazine. It was the first of many meetings in that office, during which we talked about fashion and how it’s changed, but also about the news, politics, writing, my pet rabbits, her abhorrence of the cardboard Amazon boxes perpetually piled in her lobby, whatever impossible conundrum I'd gotten myself into that week, her mother's appetite for knowledge and the book store she owned in Chicago.
While I was the fashion director of Off Duty at the Wall Street Journal, I interviewed Betty about a significant heirloom she’d received. She discussed her great-grandmother’s ostrich-feather and tortoise-shell fan, and how, when she was gone, she hoped someone would treasure it as much as she did. I was having major back surgery a few months later, and before I got my bionic steel spine, a big Bergdorf bag showed up at my apartment. Inside was an encouraging note from Betty and her great-grandmother’s fan. I framed the note and the fan. They now hang next to my bed. So, Betty is my favorite memory from working in the industry. And I hope that, someday, I can be ‘Betty’ for someone else.”
Photography by Noreen Khalid Ahmad & Michael Angelo
Makeup by Mayumi Abuku
Makeup by Mayumi Abuku