Best Wardrobes in Britain: Patricia Zhou

Stepping into Patricia Zhou’s East London home, the satellite Who What Wear UK team and I found ourselves bathed in warm golden-hour light, in part due to the soft sheen of the floor-to-ceiling wood panelling that her apartment is decked out in. Her design-led home, which she shares with her partner, evokes a ’90s modernist loft-style feeling and makes for the perfect backdrop to her eclectic soft furnishings, knick-knacks from her travels and of course, her growing wardrobe.

Both her home and wardrobe tell of her extensive worldly travels and dance profession, from her times at the Kirov Academy Ballet in Washington, D.C., The Staatsballett in Berlin, all the way to L.A. Dance Project in California. She decided to depart from company life in 2019 to pursue her own solo ambitions and creative pursuits. Patricia has since choreographed and directed her own short films (check out “Orange Tree” here), and has movement-directed for clients such as Rodarte, Flannels and Nike, leading her to become an established tastemaker and brand ambassador for a burgeoning list of luxury, sport and fashion labels. Although she comes from a ballet background, she looks to apply a contemporary lens to classical techniques, and through her films, teaching and work in the fashion landscape, she hopes to bring the joy of movement to a bigger audience and grow awareness of dance as a storytelling medium.