Who Was Designer Jay Jaxon?
While fashion history certainly has its favorites — those whose stories feature strongly in the canon — there are many others whose talents and contributions to the industry have slipped out of regular recollection.
Jay Jaxon is one of them.
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The designer, who rose to the helm of former French fashion house Jean-Louis Scherrer, making him the first Black American couturier in the Paris maisons in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, even designing for Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent and Dior for a time, has largely been “hidden in the fashion and historical narrative,” according to Rachel Fenderson, fashion historian, curator and lead authority on Jaxon.
“In the biography ‘Jean-Louis Scherrer’ [by Jeromine Savignon], Jaxon’s historical contributions to the Scherrer maison are not detailed in the timeline nor mentioned,” Fenderson told WWD. It is, however, on record in a January 1970 WWD article describing his first haute couture collection for Scherrer saying, “Jay Jaxon is the new designer at Scherrer these days….He’s got a good color sense, which shows best in those beautifully printed rounded shawls he puts over late day dresses.”
After a stint in Paris, Jaxon, who was born Eugene Jackson in Queens, N.Y., in 1941, according to Fenderson’s research, returned to New York’s Seventh Avenue to use his design prowess Stateside. WWD caught the designer upon his return in a June 14, 1973, article:
“The Parisians do what they do well — that is socialize and fall into poses — and they do it naturally. But New York’s my home and I’m going to design here now,” Jaxon said at the time.
In August 1974, when unveiling a collection for Benson & Partners at the Four Seasons in New York, Jaxon told WWD, “I like a classy look rather than a classic look….My type of girl likes to buy clothes that she can wear for a year or two and still feel luxurious in.”
While there, the media mentions of the designer — who died of cancer in 2006 after spending his last years as a costumer in California — are scant.
“Jaxon was probably intuitive in knowing that, over time, he would be erased from the fashion historical narrative,” Fenderson said.
This very erasure was what prompted Fenderson to center her master’s thesis at Parsons on the designer and now, much of what’s on public record about Jaxon stems from her research. So much so that the “ever-growing” archive she has been building over the last five years — which consists of “historical and theoretical books, more than 50 newspaper articles, magazines, garments, clothing labels, primary sourced interviews, census and legal documentation, obituaries, photographs, travel IDs, voice recordings, correspondences, résumés, illustrations, technical flats and signatures” — will inform her forthcoming book on Jaxon.
Here, WWD checks in with Fenderson for more insight into the designer’s life, why the world knows so little about him and what Jay Jaxon should be remembered for.
WWD: Tell us, who was Jay Jaxon?
Rachel Fenderson: Jay Jason Jaxon…was a fashion visionary. He understood that he needed to utilize his auto-agency [a term Fenderson coined in her thesis, meaning to help oneself preserve and safeguard their own legacy and harvesting their own power to do so] to protect his own legacy. Jaxon was probably intuitive in the knowing that, over time, he would be erased from the fashion historical narrative. While making inroads in fashion, Jaxon saved numerous documents, clothing labels and signed his signature to tear sheets so that his designs would not be interred deep in the annals of companies’, newspapers’ and magazines’ archival databases, never to be seen again. Ultimately, Jaxon was dynamic and, according to his friends, family and love Lloyd Hardy, Jaxon was very clear about who he was and particular about what he desired. His sister Arlene Patterson once proclaimed that, “Jay was ahead of his time.” Jaxon was audacious and not afraid to chase his dreams, he loved being a designer.
WWD: What was he known for when it came to his design?
R.F.: Jay Jaxon was a triple threat. A designer through and through — in every sense of the word. He made his own patterns, drew his own illustrations and technical flats, as well as machine-sewed and hand-sewed garments. When inspecting pieces such as suits, furs, eveningwear, hats, skirts, pants, Westcott vests that Jaxon made for his friends who are entertainers in the industry, it was apparent that these garments were made with hand-stitched sewing techniques. Whether an artist is constructing bespoke, hand-sewn and/or haute couture clothing, it is beyond arduous and labor intensive to produce. It is not widely common that designers are adequately proficient in all areas of the design process (that includes pattern making/draping, sewing, illustration as well as drawing technical flats), [but] Jaxon did it firsthand, fashioning chic and timeless pieces. Also, he could literally design for any brand; Jaxon’s catalogue is vast and extensive. He created for the likes of Benson & Partners, Jay Jaxon for Muney, Jay Jaxon for Jou-Jou, Jay Jaxon for Pierre Cardin (American Collection), John Kloss and many more. To be able to adapt to various brand’s auras, their company heritage and stamp within the world requires a designer to see the big picture and to be fully engrossed in that brand. Jaxon did this effortlessly.
Photographer Unknown, Editorial Image, 1970, Maison of Jean-Louis Scherrer, Jay Jaxon’s Portfolio, Bequest of Lloyd Hardy, Rachel Fenderson Collection, 2017.
WWD: So what happened at Scherrer and why isn’t Jaxon in the record books there?
R.F.: Jaxon designed for Jean-Louis Scherrer as an assistant designer and then couturier creating haute couture and prêt-à-porter collections on and off from the late ‘60s to the mid- to late ‘70s. In the biography “Jean-Louis Scherrer” [by Jeromine Savignon], Jaxon’s historical contributions to the Scherrer maison are not detailed in the timeline nor mentioned. The years where Jaxon made history are skipped over. Jaxon was written about in more than 50 newspaper articles and his garments were captured in many magazines; however, in some instances, he is not being tracked in the metadata of the archival databases for these same sources. What’s more, there are magazine reviews of collections during the ‘70s where Jaxon should have been present and or [part of the discourse] and he was not. This is exactly how erasure from the historical narrative occurs and hegemonic fashion histographies are aided in their development. The questions that should arise are who is in charge of the narrative, who is disseminating history, and who are the gatekeepers?
WWD: What was Jaxon working on post-Scherrer?
R.F.: Jaxon left the maison of Jean-Louis Scherrer after the designer Scherrer experienced financial and ownership complications with the financiers of his company. Jaxon secured a position as the assistant designer to Yves Saint Laurent and then to Marc Bohan for Christian Dior. In both design roles, Jaxon produced haute couture and prêt-à-porter collections during the early ‘70s. He would also design costumes for world-renowned musicians such as Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis Jr., as well as for the film industry and dance competitions in France.
WWD: What about designing under his own name?
R.F.: Absolutely [he did]. Jaxon was an entrepreneur — that’s how he launched his fashion career. He started his eponymous brand in New York City, landing his garments in the Fifth Avenue department stores of Henri Bendel and Bonwit Teller. Later, he earned enough money to travel to France. In the early ‘70s, Jaxon successfully established his own brand in Paris while creating haute couture for the biggest, baddest maisons in the height of their prime.
Photographer Unknown, Editorial Image, Jay Jaxon’s Portfolio, Bequest of Lloyd Hardy, Rachel Fenderson Collection, 2017.
WWD: You’re working to preserve Jay Jaxon’s place in fashion history, but while we wait for your book, what should fashion remember Jaxon for?
R.F.: Jay Jaxon is the first American and African American couturier to be at the helm of a French haute couture maison right in the heart of the Jim Crow Era. Jaxon will be remembered for his fashion design brilliance as an American designer, costume designer and couturier who not only transformed the fashion narrative of the past century, his contributions help to enrich the histories of the present and future through diverse representation. Jaxon’s design aptitude, rigor and imaginative mind led to his work standing the test of time over a 40-year career. In the words of Lauryn Hill, “unprecedented, and still respected when it’s vintage.” Jay Jason Jaxon is an incomparable artist who opened doors for more to follow, so that others could create traction with their own dreams and inspire the next generation to come.
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