Complex, sensual and zesty, I am not describing your latest hook-up but the new scent by Gabe Gordon, Horseplay. Intense notes of hay, leather, vetiver and rose mingle in the heady masculine fragrance that inspires images of jodhpur-wearing whip-brandishing heartthrobs, ad rolling around in the hay. Emily In Paris’ sexy Italian man playing polo has not escaped the collective consciousness yet! We met the young designer following his debut catwalk show presented in a high school canteen in Lower Manhattan and receiving some of the accompanying perfume to inhale.
When Gabe Gordon is asked about his relationship with horses he gives no comment. The designer shares instead on Horseplay, the title of his Spring/Summer 2025 collection, “This story is about a gang of jocks, inspired by Australian 1970’s youth gangs called Sharpies, who haze the boy and force him to kill off his horse girl competitors in the horseback riding competition. I think about the jocks I grew up with in suburban Connecticut, and the homoerotic nature of teen sports.” The collection and scent distill just that with the sweat of young men, painted bruised faces and deconstructed then reconstructed garments that ooze cool.
Launched on 6th December Horseplay Eau de Parfum interprets your Spring/Summer 2025 collection of the same name. The intense scent smells vegetal, medicinal and a little illicit. What’s in there that gives it a darker edge and how was the experience formulating the perfume?
When Callum Mitchell of Perdrisât (the nose and maker behind Horseplay) and I first met over coffee to discuss the story behind the collection, we enthusiastically gushed over our love of horror and ways of imbuing this spirit of a twisted Americana through a scent.
Despite being on opposite sides of the world, the collaborative process has been very organic. Callum initially sent me a bunch of sample scents to choose from, with names including Cherry Cola as an Epiphany, Slut Rose, and Pony Saddle. They all perfectly invoked the vision of the collection. But Horseplay stood out — I was attracted to the intensity of the masculine notes, coated in girly, synthetic rose.
Despite being on opposite sides of the world, the collaborative process has been very organic. Callum initially sent me a bunch of sample scents to choose from, with names including Cherry Cola as an Epiphany, Slut Rose, and Pony Saddle. They all perfectly invoked the vision of the collection. But Horseplay stood out — I was attracted to the intensity of the masculine notes, coated in girly, synthetic rose.
The recent collection and this expansion into perfume underline an interest in physical senses: how a garment smells and feels on the body can make a big impact. Is this one of the reasons you’ve been drawn to working with wool?
I actually haven’t ever worked with wool before! I have always been super drawn to cotton, initially inspired by my own interest in starchy cotton undergarments and the way the fibres decay and stain over time. This upcoming Autumn/Winter 2025 season I will be introducing wool knits. I’ve been excited about expanding my material explorations and figuring out how to embed worn histories through new fibres.
Your men’s American football outfit clothes an important character in the horror story of the collection, a homoerotic fantasy that turns into a hazing. Where did the idea come from? Does your choice of materials and shape intentionally soften the jock’s image or make this character more dream-like?
I came up with the story behind the collection while on a work trip that was mostly a holiday in Naarm (Melbourne). I was inspired by the lushness, the constant smell of vegetation in the city’s parks. I first had the idea of a nightmare of a boy falling into lush fern grasses and smelling that smell of vegetation. I’ve always been a horror movie fan and it has been exciting to think about every collection following its own singular plot line and creating horror stories which act as a guide.
The jock plays a huge role in the story of Horseplay. This story is about a gang of jocks, inspired by Australian 1970’s youth gangs called Sharpies, who haze the boy and force him to kill off his horse girl competitors in the horseback riding competition. I think about the jocks I grew up with in suburban Connecticut, and the homoerotic nature of teen sports. I like how you describe the jock’s image as softened. I think dressing a jock in knit, soft, stuffed reinterpretation of jock clothes inherently inculcates queerness.
The jock plays a huge role in the story of Horseplay. This story is about a gang of jocks, inspired by Australian 1970’s youth gangs called Sharpies, who haze the boy and force him to kill off his horse girl competitors in the horseback riding competition. I think about the jocks I grew up with in suburban Connecticut, and the homoerotic nature of teen sports. I like how you describe the jock’s image as softened. I think dressing a jock in knit, soft, stuffed reinterpretation of jock clothes inherently inculcates queerness.
Horror is an enduring theme in your output. It’s a space that is sometimes used to talk about our insecurities or real life worries in an exaggerated narrative. What concerns are you approaching?
Grief was the genesis of my brand, knitwear became a way to visualise and materialise feelings of anxiety, loss and agitation. The work not only was cathartic, but adding fantastical horror elements allowed me to integrate and accept the grief in a way. Creating an exaggerated narrative each season helps shepherd the motifs within the collections. Recently I’ve been exploring the tension between traditional Americana motifs and queer lives via the stories, which often end up feeling autobiographical, but with more fantasy and desire.
The skirt on look 19 for Spring/Summer 2025 elevates what looks like up-cycled materials into a luxurious piece. You’ve always been engaged in fabric development. What’s the most exciting part of that?
Yes! The Logo Skirt was made out of distressed vintage t-shirts. I originally had sketched it to be a chunky, heavy cotton knit, but after putting together the jersey muslin, we knew I made more sense being made out of tees.
The brand started as a way of discovering new languages to convey decay and time through knits and as the brand evolves, we have started to incorporate so many new ways of engineering fabric. I’ve always been attached to slow, hand-crafted ways of making, such as weaving garments directly onto the dress form or space-dyeing yarn as a way of branding or staining my work. It’s exciting to have these deepened connections to objects and ultimately preserve craft.
Lana Del Rey features on your Instagram, can we foresee a future collaboration? Who are your male muses?
Collaborating with Lana Del Rey is my biggest dream. I’m currently obsessed with Ryan Phillippe during his heyday in the late 90s. Particularly from his role in I Know What You Did Last Summer. He’s extremely sexy and looks like my boyfriend Timothy.
When you’re casting for a campaign or catwalk, what do you look out for?
I like to look for faces that remind me of people I grew up with in Connecticut. This upcoming season, we’re excited to incorporate more street casting and bringing on talent who actively fit these archetypes more literally.
Finally, the past always informs the future. With your brand being founded in 2019 in the wake of losing your father, are there elements of his and your family’s taste, history or character that will be brought through in Gabe Gordon’s future designs?
Inspired by my suburban upbringing, I look to images of Americana; subjects and impressions of vintage and contemporary sportswear. I’m especially interested in the garments my parents wore as teens and young adults, how those fabrics would look today if held onto. These motifs act as costumes for my cast of characters.
