Five Fits With: Creative-at-Large Shiloh Zielke

This week’s subject is creative-at-large Shiloh Zielke, someone I met through mutual friends at Deveaux New York (where I used to work). I’ve always appreciated her style and laid-back vibe and knew she’d be excellent for this column.

Fashion has been in her DNA seemingly forever—certainly since she was a small child. “I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and from the age of six, I always wanted to be a clothing designer for some reason,” she says. She credits her mom—who let her buy wedding-dress magazines at the store and paid for sewing lessons when she was around ten—with nurturing her initial interest. “My mom was just very gung ho about that,” she says.

Once she got to high school, she was studying pattern making and taking college-level fashion courses, which solidified her career trajectory. Shiloh and I discussed her work history and foundational time at Deveaux New York, falling in love with fashion and keeping that flame lit, honing your personal style, and plenty more.

Fit One

Dress by Jil Sander; vest by Deveaux; boots by Toteme.

Tell me about your work history.

I went into fashion design at Columbia College. Then I worked at a menswear called Stock Manufacturing in Chicago. I was like, “Okay. This is what I want to be doing, but I obviously can’t do it here in Chicago.” I moved to Philly for a year and worked at Urban Outfitters and Free People before I realized I needed to live in New York. I’ve always worked for small brands, which is kind of a route that you choose. I like being more hands-on with multiple roles within the company. A friend told me about Deveaux—Tommy Ton was there at the time, and I’m such a fan—so I reached out to them. They said they weren’t looking to hire, but I kept nagging them. It paid off. I was doing the knitwear designs and helping with other stuff. Eventually my job switched to the marketing and social side of things. I was running all the photo shoots, and I fell in love with creating concepts and finding photographers and art directors and models, so that’s what I’d love to do in the future with other small brands. I’m currently working with a few small brands on their social media and how it connects to their overall strategy.

Was there a specific moment you fell in love with fashion?

I remember getting my first job in New York at Autumn Cashmere. I had no business interviewing for this job at all, having no knitwear background whatsoever—never learned it, never tried it in school. But in the interview I was talking about brands that I really loved. Jil Sander’s always been a favorite. It’s a beautiful brand. I mentioned that in the interview, and my boss said, “You had the taste level that we were hoping for.”

Fit Two

Dress by Proenza Schouler; boots by Jil Sander.

How have you nurtured your passion for fashion?

It goes back to why I was such a fan of Tommy, but seeing the street style in the early days was what I loved. As soon as those articles would get released on Style.com or Voguelater on, that’s what I was paying attention to more than anything else, because it was more interesting to see how the who’s who in fashion were wearing clothing. Granted, they were still obviously dressing for the shows that they were going to, but it felt so much more interesting and personal to them. Now it feels like everyone’s just dressed for the shows versus putting their own personal spin on it, but there are still quite a few people that I see in the street-style arena that have such a beautiful sense of style of their own. It’s so exciting.

How have you honed your personal style?

It’s about saying no to things. I see a lot of things and I’m like, “Oh, I love that. I love that on that person,” but knowing that that’s not necessarily for me is the best way. This contradicts that sentiment, but in one of the more recent The Row lookbooks, one of the models was wearing all black with this brown bomber. I loved it but didn’t think I could pull it off. But I was in Paris in September and it was freezing and I saw this bomber that I’m wearing now, and I was like, “Maybe it’s meant to be.“ So I bought it and now I love it. And so it came full circle a little bit; it’s about saying no to certain things and trying others.

Fit Three

Jacket and shoes by Deveaux; bag by Lemaire.

What are your current three favorite spots in New York?

Public Records is still one of my favorite restaurants and bars. With Others is a wine bar with a great backyard, and Hudson Wilder is a beautiful home-goods and design shop in Dumbo.

What are some of your other interests or hobbies outside of fashion?

I run a lot. I’ve gotten really into it. I would normally run just for exercise, but now I’m toying with the idea of doing a marathon. I’m not quite sure if my knees can handle it. And I still really enjoy and love shooting film.

Fit Four

Sweater by Paa; skirt by Deveaux; top (tied at waist) by Jil Sander; sneakers by Adidas x Wales Bonner.

What is your all-time favorite brand?

Jil Sander, obviously. It has such great history. I still remember Tommy sent me this dress on 1stdibs and he was like, “It’s an archival Raf Simons for Jil Sander dress from one of their runway shows. You need to buy this.” I was two cocktails in with friends and I was like, “Okay. Buying.” It came in and it was just the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen. I didn’t have anywhere to wear it. I stored it for a few years. Then my friend got married and it was the perfect opportunity. You can go back through old shows and old collections and still find pieces that are so beautiful—the tailoring and the way it’s made still holds up. It’s all about texture and proportions, and the fabrics and the colors are beautiful. Everything about it just works so well.

Any current or newer favorites?

I really like Co. She started out of L.A. and just recently moved to Paris, which seems like the right move because the collections have only gotten better since. Their lookbooks have been amazing. Styling has been great. Shaina Mote has been a huge support system over the years, and I would love to give her a shout-out. Her clothing is so beautifully made. Classic workwear for women. And Stòffa. I love everything from the clothing, the imagery, to the branding. It’s a world I want to live in.

Fit Five

Scarf sweater by Deveaux; trousers by Bottega Veneta; boots by Calvin Klein 205W39NYC.

Can you remember what your first significant fashion purchase was?

I bought my first pair of Margiela Tabi boots with a check that I got from selling photos to an AT&T billboard campaign. It was cool to see my photos plastered all over the city.

What's the last thing you purchased?

My Lemaire bag in Paris.

What’s on your wish list for the holidays?

My mom loves antiques and silver jewelry. So I’ve been going down a rabbit hole of all of these really beautiful Mexican sterling-silver pieces. They’re gorgeous and so sculptural.

If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it consist of?