Terron Schaefer, the long-time chief creative director of Saks Fifth Avenue who left there to join Harrods, has died in Houston, according to Fern Mallis. He was just shy of his 80th birthday, which was Oct. 26.
Schafer, whose title was executive vice president and chief creative officer at Saks, was also the breakout star as a judge of “Fashion Star,” a reality show on NBC that aired for two seasons in 2012.
Mallis said that Schaefer had said that he did not want a memorial or any kind of obituary upon his death, so details of his passing were scarce over the weekend.
Mallis said that Schaefer had been battling Parkinson’s disease and had apparently suffered a fall at his home last week.
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A tall, handsome man for whom the word “elegant” seemed to be invented, Schaefer never seemed to rush but always brimmed with creative ideas. An impeccable dresser whose suits were generally from Savile Row, he could be erudite about art, architecture, food, travel and design but also had a keen sense of humor that invariably would leave him with twinkling eyes and a sly grin.
At Saks, Schaefer oversaw the branding and creative direction of the store, which included everything from its window displays and catalogs to its advertising campaigns.
“He was a dear, old friend,” Mallis said, adding that they had had a long conversation just two weeks ago. “He had incredible taste and was really loved by so many people in the industry, but he never sought the limelight.”
During his 20 years at Saks, she said, he had redesigned the store’s graphics and was the first to light the outside of the Fifth Avenue flagship during Christmas. “He cared about all those types of details,” Mallis said.
Schaefer, who was born in Brazil, raised in Argentina and schooled in Switzerland, lived in Sugar Land, Tex., a Houston suburb in a home that had belonged to his parents, according to a feature story in the Houston CityBook from 2022 when he was renovating the home.
Before joining Saks, he had been senior vice president of marketing for Warner Bros. Worldwide, according to his LinkedIn page.
In a feature story in the Daily Front Row in 2013, Schaefer came to the U.S. to attend business school and worked first for William Bernbach, one of the founders of the ad agency DDB Worldwide. Because he spoke French, he was sent to Paris to work on the Polaroid account, he recalled, as well as Chanel, where he met the famed photographers Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton.
Shortly after, he was approached by Federated Department Stores to work in the creative realm for the company’s stores. Mallis said that included Filene’s and Bloomingdale’s.
He was then recruited by the controversial and now disgraced Mohammed Al-Fayed, who owned Harrods in London at the time, to work at that store for four years, helping to improve its marketing, store displays and windows. While Al-Fayed treated him generously, Schaefer eventually had a falling out with the mercurial businessman and left the store. Shortly afterward he popped up in Spain at Galerias Preciados as part of an American-led management group brought in to help turn around what was then the country’s second-largest department store group. The effort failed however and the retailer was bought out of bankruptcy by its larger competitor El Corte Ingles.
According to The Daily Front Row story, Schaefer volunteered for Doctors Without Borders in Cambodia for a short time, before returning to the States to join Macy’s. He joined Saks Fifth Avenue in 2004.
In addition to “Fashion Star,” the fashion version of “American Idol,” where designers competed to win orders from retailers, Schaefer also created Style 365, an early fashion website.
“The opening party was at the Four Seasons,” recalled fashion designer Jeffrey Banks. “All of New York was there and he got Bruce Weber to do the photographs. It was a massive failure from a financial standpoint but it was brilliant from a visual standpoint.”
Banks added that Schaefer was “a real showman — the last of his kind. If I was to use one word to describe him, it would be impresario. He had an incredible circle of friends from inside and outside the industry. He was a very loving, wonderful, full of energy guy.”
He recalled that in 2007, when he was launching his first book, Banks was hoping to do the launch party at Bergdorf Goodman. “Terry got wind of it and told me, ‘If you don’t do the party at Saks Fifth Avenue, I’ll break both your kneecaps.’ And he was serious.” So Saks hosted the party, had it catered, hired a DJ — everything Banks requested.
“It wasn’t inexpensive, but we had 750 people show up,” he continued. “Saks didn’t even sell books but they set up a velvet robe and I signed books for three-and-a-half hours. That was Terry. His death is a real loss.”
Michael Macko, a former senior vice president of men’s fashion for Saks, said: “My fondest memory of Terry was being in Paris together for the men’s collections. Between shows, we would pop into a store, whether it was Charvet on the Place Vendome, Serge Lutens on the Palais Royal, or the Hermes hat store near the Champs Elysees. He would tell me to pick something out, whether it be a hat, a new fragrance, or a tie, he would pay for it, hand me the bag, and say ‘Happy Birthday.’ He would always remember my birthday, on the actual day, but the present in Paris was always a special treat.”
According to Mallis, Schaefer is survived by a brother, Ken Schaefer, as well as four nephews.
