Jones New York and Wes Gordon: The Perfect Match

Rising design star Wes Gordon has joined forces with mass retailer Jones New York to create a spring capsule collection just at the right time when consumers are shedding coats, swaddling scarves and exposing more skin.  Approached by Jones New York after his triumphant and much heralded collection during New York Fashion Week in February 2011, Gordon’s distinguished academic and professional achievements, as well as design background, prepped him for his collaboration with Jones New York.  “I grew up in Atlanta but when I decided I wanted to go to design school I knew I wanted to go to St. Martins in London, “explained Gordon. “ With the old, ivy-covered buildings and the great history of the school, St. Martins was like Hogwarts for fashion. It was an incredibly creative place to study fashion.”

With this collaboration Wes Gordon joins the long list of designers—from Anna Sui and Isaac Mizrahi at Target to Zac Posen, Missoni, Sonia Rykiel, and now Marni at H&M—who are collaborating with big retail chains. “Jones [New York] contacted me after my third collection and because my company is small, it was very easy to facilitate this collaboration. I learned so much in the process,” details Gordon.

Inspired by classic American resort wear, in this collaboration, Gordon stayed with a classic spring palette and motifs paired with an Asian influence.  “We have classic spring resort wear in this collection. And you see those spring resort motifs expressed in our black, navy and white and lime color palette to summer striped motifs, to linens with an Asian aesthetic to make the collection more modern,” relates Gordon.

Price points range from lime sateen pants at $138 to jackets and blazers at $248 upward to $398. Jones New York/Wes Gordon spring capsule collection is now available in Bloomingdale’s and can be seen in the window of Bloomingdale’s flagship store in NYC.

—William Gooch