October 21, 2011
Liz Gardea is a clothing designer who has worked for Bill Blass Jeans, Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans, Jones New York Intimates, Donna Karan Intimates, Jose Natori Intimates and now HUE. She grew up in El Paso, Texas and graduated from Texas Tech University. She began her fashion career at 22 working at a jeans manufacturing plant in El Paso. At 23, she relocated to New York City to work as an assistant designer for Bill Blass Jeans. She and her husband Hector Gonzalez, a history teacher at George Washington High School in Manhattan, moved to Leonia in 1992. Their daughter Pam is a recent graduate of Leonia High School, and son Paulo is a junior at the school.
Q: What was it like growing up in El Paso?
A: I grew up in a small Mexican-American community. My two brothers and I went to a predominantly Mexican-American high school. Growing up, my family took road trips throughout Texas and to California. We had a very simple life.
Q: How did you get your start as a fashion designer?
A: Fashion design was my childhood dream. My grandmother’s sister designed swimsuits for Jantzen in California, so designing must have been in my genes. My grandmother signed me up for Singer’s sewing lessons when I was 8. At 9, I designed and sewed a dress for her, which she proudly wore to a wedding.
Q: Why did you attend a liberal arts school instead of a design school?
A: I was the first person in my family to attend college. College wasn’t part of my parents’ plan for me, but my pleading prevailed. Texas Tech was in-state, affordable, and offered a major in Clothing and Textiles with a Fashion Design option.
Q: How did you go from jeans to intimate apparel?
A: While working for Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans, the company needed a line to compete with Calvin Klein’s male-style briefs that were the fashion craze at the time. I helped launch Jones New York Intimates, which introduced camisoles, bodysuits, and leggings.
Q: Which designer did you most enjoy working with?
A: My nine years working for Donna Karan was the ultimate job for any designer. I helped launch her Intimate Apparel Collection and worked with the most beautiful, imported novelty fabrics. She spared no expense, only asking “Is it beautiful?” It was truly a dream job.
Q: Have you ever fit a famous client?
A: Barbra Streisand, when I worked for Donna Karan. Streisand was preparing for her 1994 tour and Donna was responsible for her wardrobe. Vanity Fair was doing a story and a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz. We were asked to design the intimate apparel and were invited to the first fitting. A few days later we received thank you tickets to the sold-out show at Madison Square Garden.
Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring lingerie models?
A: No tattoos or weird piercings! No matter how beautiful you are, big fashion houses won’t hire you. They distract from the product.
Q: How did you meet your husband Hector?
A: I was on a business trip in Florida at a small family company that made knit tops for Gloria Vanderbilt. I missed my plane back to New York and the owners asked their son, Hector, to take me out to dinner. We stayed in touch and began dating when he moved to Manhattan to complete his graduate studies at NYU. We married in 1986.
Q: Where do you enjoy traveling with your family?
A: We all enjoy road trips anywhere. We just returned from a trip to Arlington National Cemetery to attend the funeral of my mother’s cousin, a Korean War veteran whose remains were recently found, 60 years after the war’s end. It was quite moving, as he received the highest military honors. A Texas congressman escorted our family for the entire trip, invited us to lunch with him, and arranged for a private tour of the White House.
Q: Why did you move to Leonia?
A: Our first Jersey stop, after living in the city, was Weehawken. We had friends in Leonia, and we fell in love with the small charming town when we visited them. When our daughter was born we started looking for a community with good schools. I like the fact that it’s small, and that I can tell my teenage kids, as they walk out the door, “Just remember that whatever you do, I’m going to hear about it.”
Q: If you weren’t a lingerie designer, what would you do?
A: I enjoy creating beauty in small spaces using elements from nature: flowers, raw wood, bark, moss, tree branches, and leaves. Years ago, on one of my shopping ventures on Fifth Avenue, I discovered a Japanese department store called Takashimaya, which featured the most amazing floral arrangements and floral décor on their first floor. They became my inspirations and influenced a lot of my aesthetic.
Q: What’s a favorite project in town?
A: I’m on the Leonia High School Beautification Committee, started by Barbara Wilkens a couple of years ago. In a few short years, the place has been transformed with flower gardens, hydrangea trees, weeping willows and lots of assorted flowering trees. This summer 25 young flowering dogwoods were planted along Anny’s Way, in honor of Leonia High School student Anny Lee, a senior who passed away last spring. A few volunteers from town – Kelly Minichiello, Patti Kenelly and Teo Pulice helped me water them over the hot summer and keep them alive. Two students (Aaron Gabay and Louis Midence) are doing an Independent Landscaping Project and helping us. It’s really exciting to see it evolve.
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