What do musical stars Addison Rae, Tyla, Adéla, and Ella Langley have in common? Besides their prime position on the pop culture charts, each is an individual voice, with an even more distinct sense of style. Yet, there’s one unexpected thing that unites the group: WeedSlut, the bedazzled New York City-based brand founded and operated by Zoë Kestan.
Over the course of the last decade, Kestan’s trajectory has been a wild ride: she founded her conceptual brand as part of an amorphous downtown scene, cornered NYC nightlife, taken a pause while she endured a media frenzy due to a public relationship with Hunter Biden, and, more recently, has re-jumpstarted the indie label complete with an accessible commercial element for fellow WeedSlut fans.
Fittings with Addison Rae.
Photo: Zoë Kestan
The 33-year-old NYC native took up an interest in design from a young age—her stepfather worked in the garment industry, and this eventually blossomed into her earning a degree in textiles from RISD. From there, Kestan dove headlong into print, weaving, knitting, and snagged a summer job at Telfar, though much of her practical clothing design and sewing knowledge is self-taught.
Such an untraditional brand name certainly raises eyebrows, but Kestan has never been one for the straight and narrow. “WeedSlut started in some ways as a proto-influencer stage name during early Instagram days,” Kestan tells Vogue of her Instagram handle’s 2013 origin. As both a smoker and a former club dancer: “I loved the intensity and semi-shock value of it, but also felt it was true to what I wanted my work and clothes to express. The name captured a lifestyle and sexuality I was embodying in the NYC fashion and art scenes and the brand naturally developed as a way to expand that world beyond myself.”
BTS with Meg Stalter
Photo: Zoë Kestan
Photo: Zoë Kestan
