Brand: Gabe Gordon
Designer: Gabe Gordon
Year founded: 2019
Background: “During my second year in undergrad my father passed away, which shifted the trajectory of how and why I make work. Coming back to school I found catharsis in making garments and learning hands-on crafts like knitting and weaving,” Gordon, who graduated from RISD in 2022 after launching his namesake label in 2019, told WWD.
“Creating clothes from yarn and developing my own fabric is super exciting because there is this feeling of continuous potential when creating from scratch. And I think cloth can have a life of its own, changing over time; it’s in a constant state of becoming. Nostalgia and the natural decay of clothing were the genesis point for Gabe Gordon. The brand has evolved and expanded since then but the core commitment to storytelling through handcrafted textiles remains,” the textile artist, creative director and designer, who is originally from Connecticut and now resides in Brooklyn, said.
Brand aesthetic and customer: “I am inspired by the capacity for textiles to grapple with time, decay, comfort/discomfort and the eeriness of nostalgia. The pieces imagine a world without limits — acceptance, inconsistency, fear, comfort and bodily possibility are woven into the pieces and transformed on each wearer,” Gordon said.
Key pieces: “Our first key pieces were our Vortex styles, which feature skewed cutouts from stretched button closures, asymmetrically wrapping around the form. Newer pieces have become more of a staple for the brand, such as our Space-Dyed hoodie, which is baggy with a cinched waist and made from Supima cotton,” Gordon said.
Price range: $200 to $1,000
Where to buy: Gabe Gordon sells direct-to-consumer via the brand’s e-commerce site and with retailers including Cafe Forgot, Everything Store, Maimoun, APOC Store, Domicile, One of a Few, Sucker, and Saloon.
Why did you decide to debut at New York Fashion Week this season and what are you looking forward to during NYFW?: “It feels really special to present handmade garments in person. It’s important to be connected to the objects around us and preserve craft, which often gets lost due to the rapidity of consumption. Also, a lot of the storytelling in the garments are inspired by horror films and being able to show this new collection in front of an audience feels apropos,” Gordon said.
