Forgive Gordon Henderson if he seems just a bit petulant.
It hasn`t been the best of times.
After receiving the Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent last February from the Council of Fashion Designers of America for his hip, oh-so- young designs, and with buckets of orders and raving press articles, Henderson seemed to have almost scaled the precarious cliffs of Seventh Avenue success.
However, the 33-year-old sportswear designer lost his footing last April with the disastrous debut of his Fall `90 collection. The line was based on a 1950s collegiate-theme-campus-come-to-the-runway with tiny pleated cheerleader skirts, big stadium coats, letter sweaters, oversized swing jackets, jumpers and crewneck sweaters.
Women`s Wear Daily called Henderson`s show ”a mistake from beginning to end.” Other fashion writers, seizing on the college theme, wrote that Henderson had the ”sophomore blues” and needed to ”go back to school.”
So it is understandable that during an interview about a month after showing his collection, Henderson was still feeling the sting of the biting criticism. Oh, he was polite and soft-spoken as ever, but it was clear that the slip from fashion heights had left him bruised.
”Overall, the whole season I thought was really pretty unsupportive to the young designers who are out there. I also think that in some instances, there were certain people hanging on a thread and the negative response to them basically closed their business,” he said.
Still in business
With $1.5 million in wholesale orders for his critically lambasted collection, Henderson is not quite worried about going out of business. And he is poised to bounce back to favor this month when stores across the nation debut his new, less expensive line of clothes. (On Sept. 14, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., Henderson will appear in Saks Fifth Avenue`s new store in Chicago Place, 700 N. Michigan Ave.)
Called But Gordon, the 130-piece collection of colorful basics will carry the Gordon Henderson signature but not the accompanying price tag. The collection, known in the industry as a bridge line, got its unusual name from Henderson`s clients who would say, ”But Gordon, can`t you do this coat in orange?” or ”But Gordon, I needed that order yesterday.”
The price range is from $40 for a blouse to $175 for a suede or leather jacket, about half the price of his regular line. This low tag affair is no small feat when you consider one of the selling points of Henderson`s designer line has been its affordability.
”How can a designer be in fashion when no one can afford him?”
Henderson told the New York Times in 1989, when his clean easy designs, priced from $200 to $300, were capturing much attention.
Henderson found, though, that being in the big leagues meant his designer line slowly crept up in price because of increased demand and overhead. In addition, he found that stores responded to his christening as a fashion wunderkind by moving his garments to upscale areas.
”What happened is, when I started doing my fashion shows the collection basically evolved out of the contemporary department into the young designer area of the store. Instead of leaving that whole retail space void, we thought we it would be really smart to fill that with a contemporary collection that was well priced,” he said.
Thanks, Calvin
With But Gordon, Henderson demonstrates the debt he owes to Calvin Klein, with whom he worked for six months before starting his own business in 1988. The clothes are clean, crisp and comfortable.
There are corduroy blazers with Lyrca panels in the back, cotton twill slim skirts, tweed wool skirts, plaid jumpers, wool zip front flannel or suede jackets, double-knit turtlenecks and mini-skirts and hooded jackets with drawstring waists.
Henderson has an eye for color. The line beams with bright tartan plaids in color combinations of lime and brown, deep green and orange. Separates are in heather, tangerine, steel blue and taupe.
They are appealing in a very visual way. But, truth to tell, thumbing through them is strangely like going through the racks at a vintage clothing store-and indeed, Henderson says he often gets his inspiration from Doris Day or Aubrey Hepburn movies or shopping in thrift stores.
You won`t find But Gordon in a thrift store. Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale`s and Ann Taylor are among the retailers that will carry the line.
Comfort first
Henderson said he`s striving to design comfortable, simple clothes that all kinds of people can wear. A California native whose favorite attire is a T-shirt and jeans, he has always believed in laid-back dressing. When he goes away on vacation, to the shore or Cape Cod, he sees people decked in comfortable clothes, cotton shorts, crewneck sweaters, T-shirts and the like, he said.
This is why The Gap is doing so well, while upscale retailers are struggling, he said. ”I think there is a really significant price resistance by the consumer, to the point where when you go to the designer areas, there is no one there (shopping) and when you go to the other departments or to The Gap, the world is there,” he said. Including Henderson, who poses for a Gap ad.
Yet, Henderson is not exactly aiming at the young set that has made The Gap`s natural fiber separates a mainstay in their wardrobes.
”I`m sure young people will go out and buy But Gordon because of the price structure of the line. But it is basically geared toward the same customer who buys Gordon Henderson. It gives my customer the option of very well-priced clothes that can balance with what I am doing that is more expensive,” he said. ”You can take a blouse from the But Gordon line and combine it with one of my suits and have a different look without having to spend so much money.”
Moving on up
From the beginning, Henderson eschewed the expensive, theatrical atmosphere of the design world. After graduating from Parsons School of Design in 1983, he signed on as one of Klein`s assistants. Klein, a master of fluid sportswear with an American point of view, is one of his idols, as is Ralph Lauren.
Henderson produced his own label for smaller companies, before being picked up in 1988 by World Hong Kong, a manufacturer that also produces Anne Klein II. His first show in April 1989, featuring vivid, bright-colored separates-an instant hit.
The clothes were uncomplicated, from a cunningly wrought cocktail dress to roomy jumpsuits held up with spaghetti straps. The press loved him and the industry embraced him. Then there was the Perry Ellis award.
”It was very exciting to get the recognition, but you have to prepare yourself for the burden of both sides of that. Like, look what happened with my fall collection, I got slapped around a lot,” he said.
He admits that a lack of planning contributed to the line`s poor showing. The show was held in his small showroom just off Seventh Avenue, prepared for about 350 people. About 600 showed up, drawn by all the publicity Henderson had received in major magazines. There was hardly room for the models to walk amid the mob scene-let alone show the clothes to Henderson`s best advantage.
”I was really insulted by the idea that someone feels that they come to something that they were not invited to, and hinder those who were invited,” he said.
The criticism of the collection, he said, made him stronger. ”When you start embarking on new territory and doing things that are not with the pack, they get nasty,” he said of fashion writers.
As to But Gordon, he said he hopes it will widen his customer base and
”allow more people to see what I am all about.”
