Photo by Fiamma Noto for SCAD Fashion
Before Wonderland became a fashion collection, it was an escape. Not an escape from reality entirely, but from the feeling of existing slightly outside of it.
For emerging designer Zoya Polivchak, imagination has always been more than a creative tool. Originally from the Florida swamps, Polivchak found herself drawn to Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) not despite its location, but because of it. While many aspiring designers dream of New York, Los Angeles, or other fashion capitals, Savannah offered something different: space to imagine.
“There’s something about the swamps, the crickets, and the quiet eeriness of the city that keeps me inspired and grounded,” she says. “I’ve always been someone whose mind wanders and questions everything, and being surrounded by nature gives me the space to dream, observe, and create.”
That environment became a catalyst for her creativity. Without the convenience of garment districts, fabric stores on every corner, or endless resources at her fingertips, Polivchak learned to approach design through innovation and problem-solving.
“We have to creatively problem-solve for every project and advocate for ourselves,” she says. “You’d be surprised how innovative being in this environment can make you.”
Her approach to fashion owes as much to storytelling as it does to construction. Drawing inspiration from nature, animals, photography, vintage clothing, and editorial imagery, Polivchak describes her creative process as highly intuitive. Ideas often appear unexpectedly—in dreams, fleeting moments throughout the day, or random observations she quickly records before they disappear.
Photo by Lainey Tyson
At first glance, the collection feels romantic. Soft silhouettes, delicate craftsmanship, and whimsical details evoke the language of fairy tales. Yet beneath the surface sits something more complicated. The characters inhabiting Wonderland appear slightly disconnected from reality, as though they belong to a world operating on its own logic.
“The collection explores feelings I’ve experienced throughout my life,” Polivchak explains. “Feeling misunderstood, out of place, and trying to find where I belong.”
Rather than approaching those emotions through darkness, she chose fantasy.
Photo by Lainey Tyson
The decision was unexpected. Wonderland was not the collection she originally intended to create. Early development centered around a concept inspired by a circus freak-show town near her hometown. Research had already begun, references had been gathered, and accessories were underway. Then, midway through the process, something shifted.
“I did a full 180,” she says. “I moved toward something that felt more authentic to where I was emotionally.”
The result became a collection that treats imagination not as escapism, but as transformation. That perspective mirrors the way Polivchak approaches design itself. Garments rarely come first. Instead, she begins by constructing entire worlds. Characters, environments, music, atmosphere, even the imagined personalities of the people wearing the clothes emerge before a single silhouette is finalized.
“I usually start with the world before I start with the garments,” she says.
The method recalls the theatrical storytelling of designers such as John Galliano and Alexander McQueen, figures Polivchak admires for their ability to create immersive universes rather than isolated collections. Like them, she views fashion as a narrative medium capable of carrying emotion and identity.
Photo by Heather Bloomfield for SCAD Fashion
In Wonderland, that narrative becomes an ode to the people who experience the world differently. The collection never attempts to resolve feelings of otherness. Instead, it embraces them. Beauty exists alongside oddness. Femininity coexists with discomfort. Fantasy becomes a place where contradictions are allowed to live together.
It is perhaps unsurprising that the collection emerged from Savannah, a city Polivchak describes as both familiar and creatively energizing. The surrounding landscape of insects and Southern eeriness continues to influence her work, providing space for observation and imagination to flourish.
Having gone through nearly a year’s work of concept development, muslin critique, and work with models, she was one of over 60 designers chosen to walk in the SCAD Senior Collection Showcase. This accomplishment was reaffirmed when her works were featured in Vogue Runway (Look 149, Look 150, and Look 151,) Fashionista, and The Impression.
“There is power in seeing the world differently,” she says.
That belief feels central not only to Wonderland but to her future as a creative. While fashion remains her primary medium, Polivchak sees herself moving fluidly between editorial work, publishing, creative direction, and image-making. What connects those ambitions is not a specific discipline but a commitment to storytelling.
For now, she is preparing for her move to New York and whatever comes next. Yet Wonderland already offers a glimpse of the designer she is becoming: one less interested in trends than in creating worlds people can step inside.
For aspiring designers, her advice is simple but powerful.
“Trust yourself. Trust your intuition, trust your sensitivity, and trust the things that make you different.”
In an industry that often prioritizes practicality, trends, and commercial appeal, Polivchak believes there is courage in creating work that is emotional and unapologetically personal, almost as if the possibility that imagination itself can be a place to belong.
Written by Jade Imani Pettyjohn
