Gabe Gordon’s Spring 2025 collection, "Horseplay," saw the New York City-based designer bring a "fictitious teenage dream” to life. Equal parts fantasy and nightmare, he imagined a horseback riding competition in the 1980s, where a 17-year-old boy is thrown off his horse, hazed by a gang of 50 jocks and wins the grand prize for killing them off. He wakes up covered in blood and grass. The show title reflects what Gordon describes as a “twisted and dark, yet erotic and playful story,” which ultimately speaks to the “anxieties and adrenaline that come with queerness.”
Smell was integral to this narrative, as described in Gordon’s show notes: the sweat on the reigns; the “green and fresh” aroma of a fern bush the boy is thrown into; the jocks dressed in leather. Models wore cozy knits, some of which were striped like vintage rugby polos. Cutouts on skirts looked like they could’ve been ripped as a result of fighting. Small leather floggers were fashioned as embellishments. One top featured football-style shoulder pads and the letter “G” across the front, rounding out Gordon’s homoerotic American high school nostalgia.
Naturally, it made sense for Gordon to create a signature fragrance inspired by "Horseplay." He teamed up with Australian perfumer Callum Mitchell, who founded his own label Perdrisât, and together they imagined a scent that’s now available online for $48. The gender-neutral eau de parfum has notes of rose, hay, vetiver and leather, inspired by a list of key words that Gordon and Mitchell developed, from “heat wave” to “rope burn.” The result is masculine, nightmarish, but also a bit girly. “I liked imagining a faggot like myself shopping for an elegant scent at Aēsop,” Gordon says.
Below, PAPER talks with Gabe Gordon more about "Horseplay" and all the considerations that went into his debut scent.
What initially attracted you to the idea of creating your own fragrance?
The idea of a fragrance came about while first contriving my debut runway show. I value an intimacy and object connection to my garments, and fragrance further fosters an understanding of the stories behind the work, and an overall closeness to craft and storytelling.
How did you approach reinterpreting your collection as a scent? What elements of the clothes or larger inspiration stood out to zero in on?
One of the main notes of the scent, Vetiver, felt like a perfect connection to the brand as well as the concepts in the collection. The grass root is historically used for weaving and literally means "root that is dug up." Not only is the scent woody and masculine and smells like hay and grasses, but the etymology felt fateful — like a nightmare, dug up from the depths of one's darkest fears. Then, we wanted to pair this with a synthetic rose scent, like a girly perfume you would find at Claire's. I liked imagining a faggot like myself shopping for an elegant scent at Aēsop.
What's the story behind the name, Horseplay? How do you feel it connects to the scent itself?
The collection is about a fictitious teenage dream of an '80s horseback riding competition, where the only male rider is thrown off his horse into fern bushes. When he is pulled up by a group of male jocks, inspired by Australian '70s youth gangs, "Sharpies," the fantasy turns to nightmare as the jocks haze the boy, possessing him with a darkness in order to kill off his competitors.
We landed on the name "Horseplay" because it encompassed this twisted and dark, yet erotic and playful story. I'm so excited by a back story, and one that's rooted in the anxieties and adrenaline that come with queerness. This collection was a study of the tension and harmony that lives between traditional Americana and queer dystopia.
How did you connect with Callum Mitchell? What did his expertise bring to the table?
Callum has his own perfume label, Perdrisât, and we both sell our work at Saloon in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. We met at my pop-up this past January and bonded over our love of horror movies and Lana Del Rey. Callum hand-makes and bottles all of his perfume, similar to the in-house nature of Gabe Gordon. His scents are instilled with his own storytelling and there is a distinct care and glamour to his work.
Are there any fragrances that you wear regularly or are inspired by?
I regularly wear Rōzu by Aēsop. It smells like roses — earthy and lush and feminine, but also masculine in its smokiness.
What's your all-time favorite smell?
My favorite smell was the smell of the inside of my dad's old car. It smelled like my dad — like worn leather, icy mint gum, black coffee.
Models: Eunhye Darbouze, Jordyn Ford, Islam, Violet Byrne (with Studio Dax)
Photography: Michael Hauptman
Styling: Zara Mirkin
Art direction: Gus Grossman
Casting: Zach Turkson
Set design: Dylan Bailey
Makeup: Janessa Pare
Hair: Dre Demry-Sanders
Styling assistant: Jack Novotny
Photo assistant: Sam Williams
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