March 22, 2012

TIE ME UP by Gene Meyer


For all you youngsters out there Gene Meyer ties have been around for 21 years and counting. The first tie collection was launched at Bergdorf Goodman Men in November 1990. They purchased the entire collection and sold out in three weeks. The ties were on their way and eventually they were available in the best boutiques and department stores in the country.

Over the years many celebrities and stylish men have worn my ties -Vogue's Hamish Bowles, AD's Robert Rufino, fashion designers Geoffrey Beene and Isaac Mizrahi, interior designers Frank de Biasi and Robert Couturier, architects Robert Fox and Allan Greenberg, jazz great John Pizzarelli, Tony Award winner Rob Ashford, actor BD Wong, tv host and author Christopher Mason, broadcast journalist Charlie Rose, renowned past president of NBC entertainment Warren Littlefield and The Back Street Boys to name a few. I won the CFDA accessory award in 1994 for the tie collections. The success of the tie collections led to a full menswear collection in 1995 and in 1996 I won another CFDA award for the men’s clothing.

1. Ashton Kutcher and models wearing Gene Meyer for the S/S 1998 ad campaign shot by Stewart Shining 
2. S/S 2012 bow ties photo by Mark Roskams




1. Hamish Bowles wearing a F/W 1992 tie at the 2010 store opening Of Christian Dior 
2. Special colors for the Museum Of Modern Art's catalog, F/W 1995 
3. Allan Greenberg wearing a Gene Meyer tie, F/W 1991 
4. Ashton Kutcher wearing Gene Meyer for the S/S 1998 ad campaign shot by Stewart Shining 
5. Warren Littlefield wearing a Gene Meyer tie with Goldie Hawn at the NBC Winter TCA Press Tour, 1993 



1. Left to right; 2011, 2000, 2001, 1999 
2. Left to right; 1995, 1992, 2011, 1992, 2011 
3. Left to right; 1994, 1994, 1996, 1995, 1993 
4. Left to right; 1992, 1992, 1995, 1995, 1997


I stopped production on the ties in 2006 and started up again in 2011 at the request of the ties many fans. Gene Meyer ties have become collectibles on E-Bay and I know of some collectors with well over 300 ties. The designs are usually achieved with cut paper art work - I'm a big fan of collage artists as well as Henri Matisse. TV stars and Hollywood actors have sported the ties in sit-coms, movies and even a production of Pippin. During the late 90s if you went to a Broadway show, 25% of the male audience were wearing GM ties.

The first four years the ties were produced in Japan and from there after in Como, Italy, where they are still produced. Starting in 2005 I joined forces with my designing brother Doug to create home furnishings collections. We are happy to be producing new tie and sock collections (the socks have been in continuous production since 1994) available exclusively on dougandgene.com.

1. Gene Meyer runway shot F/W 1997 
2. J. Abbott Miller of Pentagram, wearing two Gene Meyer ties, New York Magazine 1996, photo Nigel Parry/CPI 
3. Patrick wearing a F/W 2011 tie, photo by Mark Roskams 
4. Gene Meyer runway shot F/W 1997 
5. Printed tie S/S 1992, MR Magazine, photo by Julian Jaime




1. Hugh wearing a S/S 2012 bow tie, photo by Mark Roskams 
2. Britton wearing a S/S 2012 bow toe photo by Mark Roskams 
3. Christopher Mason wearing a Gene Meyer bow tie 
4. Britton and Hugh wearing gene Meyer bow ties S/S 2012, photo by Mark Roskams





1. Ashton Kutcher wearing Gene Meyer for the S/S 1998 ad campaign shot by Stewart Shining 
2. David Chokachi wearing Gene Meyer S/S 1997 photographed for Esquire Magazine 
3. Printed silk tie photographed by Peggy Sirota for Vogue Homme, S/S 1992 
4. David Spade, Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider photographed for GQ Magazine, S/S 1995 





1. Solid woven ties and flannel shirts 1995 photo by Jack Deutsch 
2. Hugh wearing S/S 2012 tie, photo Mark Roskams 
3. Britt wearing S/S 2012 tie, photo by Mark Roskams 
4. S/S 2012 ties 
5. Brent and Chris wearing Gene Meyer shirts and ties F/W 1997, photo by Stewart Shinning





1. Chris and Brent wearing Gene Meyer suits and ties, F/W 1997, photo by Stewart Shining 
2. Gene Meyer runway shot, S/S 1997 
3. Printed S/S tie in Details Magazine, 1995 
4. Gene Meyer runway shot of Rob, F/W 2000 
5. Gene Meyer runway shot, S/S 2001 
6. Gene Meyer runway shot, S/S 2001 7. Gene Meyer runway shot of Jason Shaw, Spring 1997





1. Gene Meyer runway shot, F/W 2000 2. Gene Meyer 
2. Gene Meyer runway shot, S/S 2001 
3. Gene Meyer runway shot, S/S 1998 
4. Britton wearing S/S 2012 tie, photo by Mark Roskams 
5. Printed silk tie photographed by Peggy Sirota for Vogue Homme, Spring 1992 
6. Gene Meyer runway shot, S/S 1996




1. Gene Meyer runway shot, S/S 1999 
2. Brent photographed by Stewart Shining for the F/W 1997 ad campaign 
3.Gene Meyer printed tie in the I. Magnin S/S 1994 catalog 
4. Chris Brown photographed by Stewart Shining for the F/W 1997 ad campaign 
5. Gene Meyer shirt, tie and suit photographed for Vibe Magazine, S/S 1998 




"For two decades, Gene Meyer has been that rarest of fashion creature's, the designers designer, influencing taste from the sanctuary of his studio. Apprenticed to Geoffrey Beene for eleven years, he learned to "pioneer the future," and then, under his own pale blue label, he splattered men's-wear and home furnishings with kaleidoscopic, rainbow-warping colors and arty, eye-teasing patterns. Along the way, he won two C.F.D.A. awards and earned a cult following- his ties, scarves, and couture (from his lavish, short-lived made-to-order collection) have become fetish objects among vintage-clothing connoisseurs".
- Amy Fine Collins for Vanity Fair, 2003




"Neck And Neck - Another sign that menswear is taking a more fashionable turn: Hermes, Chanel and Gene Meyer are whipping their popular scarf prints into colorful neckties." 
- Page Hill Starzinger for Vogue, 1991





"Gene Meyer is one of the true originals in modern menswear. After a decade working for legendary US designer Geoffrey Beene, Meyer launched his own men's accessories line in the early 90s which rapidly achieved cult status and spawned one of the few genuine design classics of the decade - the Gene Meyer tie."
- Richard Waller for Blue, 2001





- Gene



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