“I don’t believe in fashion, I believe in style.”
– Jackie Rogers –
“I’m the only designer today who ever worked with the great Coco Chanel ,” says Rogers. “From here I learned that fashion doesn’t start with design. Everything comes from fabrication.” I was lucky enough to have meet Jackie in her Palm Beach store located on Worth Avenue. Working just as Chanel did, with the fabric, (“Chanel never sketched; I don’t either.”), JACKIE ROGERS molds and contours the fabric until a shape emerges. “It’s like sculpting,” she explains.
Jackie’s career has ranged from big-band singer, Hollywood starlet, denizen of Rome’s la dolce vita in the company of princes and magnates, films for Fellini, Chanel’s favored mannequin, successful New York model, to owner of an innovative Madison Avenue barbershop boutique that transformed the staid street shops of the time forever.
Jackie’s relish for life and the experiences it brings have given her an extraordinarily sophisticated point of view, which transforms into couture designs for some of the world’s most fashionable and demanding women. Her great personal style and unique gift of being able to transfer that style to her clients has made her the favored couturier for some of the greatest names in New York and international society, as well as the world of film and theater.
When Jackie was first discovered in New York she was pressed into runway action by the most renowned couturiers of Rome, including Simonetta and Fabiani . Her eccentric lifestyle inspired Fellini to write a part for her into his film “8 ½” . Soon after she shot the film a shopping excursion to Paris changed the direction of her life, forever.
It is when JACKIE ROGERS bought her first Chanel suit (“around $600”) and as she stood for the first fitting found herself thinking, “It would be nice to work here.” Upon hearing that Chanel needed models she quickly lined up an interview. A call by a fellow model was placed to Lilu Grumbach, Channel’s assistant at the time.“Chanel liked me, hired me on the spot and paid me top dollar.” Rogers left the prince and la dolce vita behind to pursue her dream. Her contract with Chanel was for one year.
At the end of the first year Chanel insisted that she remain. For Jackie , one thing was important: that she work with “Mademoiselle” on the collection. And surprisingly, Chanel agreed and Rogers remained at the House of Chanel, taking in as much as she could, absorbing the style and techniques of her mentor. “It was the greatest experience of my life. I never realized what an effect she had on me.” The effect was to prove lasting.
Jackie was anxious to begin her own career and against Chanel’s protests, she returned to New York and her modeling and television work while she investigated the fashion possibilities. “One day I was getting my hair cut at Vidal Sassoon ,” she says, “when my hairdresser informed me he was cutting the hair of 250 guys a week at night! Great! I suggested we get together and work out of my apartment. “He’d cut hair, I’d sell Ken Scott’s incredible men’s shirts”…they were all the rage in the Sixties. Thinking out of the box became a revolutionary concept in merchandising, a barbershop boutique which mushroomed into a Madison Avenue shop proudly displaying the banner, “ Jackie Rogers for Men.” The first of its kind, it created a whirlwind of publicity and attracted some of the most stellar names of the day: Peter O’Toole, Winthrop Rockefeller , Jack Nicholson, Michael Douglas and Woody Allen . Quickly expanding on her brilliant and innovative idea, Jackie began designing fashionable men’s clothes.
It became the meeting place of the rich and famous from both coasts, and it did not take long before the women followed. Lee Radziwell, discovered Jackie and soon brought her sister, Jackie Onassis to meet Jackie Rogers as well. Jackie transitioned into designing for women at Channels suggestion. Jackie’s following today includes some of the most recognized women in entertainment, politics and finance. Just to name a few include: Patti LuPone, Christine Baranski, Julianne Moore, Condoleezza Rice, Roberta Flack, Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek, Courtney Love and so many more.
“Restricting a piece to its design holds back on what should, and could, be developed. I go the way the fabric goes. That involves draping the cloth on a mannequin to get line and feeling. From that point the design develops, sometimes spinning off into a dozen different versions. My clothes are always simple. I take away, rather than add, more and more women are finding they don’t want their clothes wearing them. My clothes are seasonless, “ I cannot be defined by the season.” says Jackie Rogers.
Rogers loves fabrics with texture, such as charmeuse, crepe, and chiffon. JACKIE ROGERS’ customers are addicted to the complicated simplicity of her design; designs that are a complete couture, refined, soft-spoken, elegant, enigmatic, with the dash and daring of a designer who knows her craft and has no fear of standing on the cutting edge of style. It was exactly this that caught my eye in her store window and drew me in. Palm Beach is a magical place, you never know whom you might meet. What a great treat it was to catch Jackie in her shop at the time. She spends most of her time traveling between Palm Beach and New York. It is a rare that you have the opportunity to speak with someone who worked with Chanel and is a fashion icon herself. Cheers Jackie to a life well lived!
