Jeffrey Mayer

Biography

Jeffrey Mayer is a professor of fashion design and coordinator for the fashion design program. He is also the curator of the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection. He teaches courses in all areas of fashion design, but he specializes in the history of fashion as well as technical and editorial illustration for the fashion industry.

Since 2014, Mayer has been working with Supermodel Emme to develop Fashion Without Limits, an initiative that incorporates size inclusive curriculum into the fashion design program.

Mayer’s research focuses on the history of 20th century fashion with emphasis on American designers and the construction techniques used to create their designs. His research led to the co-authored book “Vintage Details: A Fashion Sourcebook,” which documents 160 garments found within the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection. His subsequent co-authored book “500 Patterns” highlights textile prints found in the collection. Both books were published by Laurence King, London.

As the curator of the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection, Mayer has designed several major historic fashion exhibitions for the Everson Museum of Art and Onondaga Historical Society, both located in Syracuse, New York, as well as Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Farms, located in Morris Plains, New Jersey. He designs an annual exhibition to highlight the collection, showcased in the School of Design’s Sue and Leon Genet Gallery. Mayer is a frequent speaker on the area of historic fashion, giving talks on such varied subjects as diversity in fashion, the rise of American fashion industry and how to read a garment.

From 1995 to 2007, Mayer, along with Todd Conover, owned the women’s wear company Conover Mayer. This design business focused on after five and evening dresses, shown twice a year in New York City and sold by retailers such as Barney’s, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman.

Mayer earned an M.A. from the University of Connecticut and a B.A. from Linfield University, McMinnville, Oregon.

Education

• M.A., University of Connecticut
• B.A., Linfield University

Selected Exhibitions

• Sue and Leon Genet Gallery, Syracuse University
  • “Mary McFadden; American Fashion Designer”
  • “High on a Hill is a Lonely Dirndl”
  • “As Seen on the Back Of Threads Magazine”
  • “Navy Blue”
  • “Queens of NY”
  • “Historic Dress 1900-2000”
  • “Emilio Pucci; Master of Print”
  • “The American Look: Fashion and Furnishings of the Arts and Crafts Era”
  • “Christian Dior 1947-1957”
• The Onondaga Historical Association
  • “Fashion After Five; The Clothes and Culture of the Cocktail Hour”
• The Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
  • “The American Look: Fashion, Furnishings, Decorative Arts and Gustav Stickley”
  • “Marie Antoinette; Styling the 18th Century Superstar”
• The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, Morris Plains, New Jersey
  • “Styling an American Family; The 1910’s at Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Farms”

Areas of Expertise

Fashion history, fashion design, draping, flat pattern, garment construction, technical design, fashion illustration