What Zac Posen (Still) Can’t Live Without

I have a pair in San Francisco. I have a pair in New York, in my office here. I have a pair at my parents’, who live on a farm in Pennsylvania, so there’s three pairs. I used to travel with them, but I had a pair confiscated because you can’t travel with scissors. Working with amazing craftspeople for over 25 years, everybody has their favorites. For me, it’s always about weight. The weight of a scissor is really important. Gingher is a very reputable, high-level, high-craft company. I’m a left-handed person, so that’s really important for scissors, something that doesn’t give a cramp. It becomes second nature. It’s my Edward Scissorhands — Zac Scissorhands — moment.

I wear knee pads when I drape, because I’m on my knees quite a bit. It’s quite a physical activity, actually. I build really quickly in a sculpting process, it’s very hands on. I guess some people can sing or play on a piano, and some people can write. And I can drape and sculpt. I’ll wear whatever knee pads I can get. My draping assistant has probably curated ones. They can’t slide. That’s really important. It’s annoying when they slide up and down.

Moving partially to San Francisco, for me, was a gardener’s delight. It’s such a unique growing season. And Heron’s Head is an amazing nursery. I’m obsessed. There I can find very unusual plants that are native. As I can get excited about having a large watercolor kit to play with, it’s also really amazing to learn about localized plants for me and building a garden through that. There’s these California poppies that grow quite large. They’re more of a bush, and they have these beautiful, very delicate ivory petals with a yellow interior. I just planted a baby. It’s my partner, Harrison’s, garden as well. He’s really taking a great pride and joy and helping build it, which is fun to see. I’ve gardened pretty much my whole life. I started as a roof-garden kid in Soho. I like getting my hands in soil and the earth being connected that way.

I love the Sweet Shop. It’s really one of those magical New York wonderful institutions. It always reminds me of the kids’ candy shop in the original Gene Wilder Willy Wonka. It’s an old-fashioned candy store, but it’s curated, and they’re very serious about their candy, which I am as well. I was raised by an amazing Norwegian babysitter, and so extra-salty licorice was just the preferred flavor. My grandfather on my mom’s side always kept in his pocket jelly beans and Good & Plenty.

Orveda invited me to a facial pre–Met Gala, now three or four years ago. It was kind of a lymphatic facial — it wasn’t with robots, it wasn’t with all those great machines, which I love as well. But I got familiar with the product, and it was simple enough in terms of the regimen, from kind ofa serum sapto a booster serum that is incredible, tothe creamto theunder-eye cream. And it just seems to work really well for me.

This LED maskis incredible. It’s soft. It’s comfortable. I know a lot of people have those hardLED masks, but it’s really night and day with the soft. Soft ones are great. And I love Monastery, also an amazing brand based out of San Francisco. The founder, Athena Hewett, is my San Francisco facialist and she’s also the facialist for some other fabulous people there.

This is what I wear if I know I’m getting on a plane and getting onstage for a town hall the next day in San Francisco or vice versa. It’s from Knockout Beauty, where I also get my facials in New York. I don’t do facials that often, but when I need it, I need it.

I’ve upgraded fromepsom salts. I think these just have a higher penetration. Living with and being engaged with my partner, who was from the ballet originally — ex principal dancer at New York City Ballet Harrison Ball — you just learn all the tricks and the trades to body recovery. I use unscented. I’ll sometimes add my own oils to it, which I’ll use one drop of a sandalwood with a base oil and one drop of maybe a patchouli. But I like to be unscented.

GapStudio is working within an elevated vision of Gap essentials that isa little more fashion forward, but still approachable. Chic, American-style dressing that works internationally, that is in-trend without being trendy. Having great classics of great quality — which is something that we stand for within Gap — and in cool color palettes. Everything from slip dresses to amazing denim sailor trousers to the perfect little summer white knit date night dress. It’s just the beginning.

For these pieces, I was definitely thinking about music icons from Dylan to Elvis and the idea of heartthrob — from James Dean in denim or Sal Mineo or Brando — or the everyday icon. You can be your own icon, too, or your own heartthrob. It’s nice when you wear something that gives you that power and strength. I was also thinking of our satin Timmy jacket. It was just an honor to be able to create for Timothée Chalamet. I think he’s one of the young greats.

[Editor’s note: The GapStudio Satin Jacket was designed witha matching pair of pantsthat is currently unavailable.]