Dawn Mello (October 5, 1931 – February 16, 2020) was an American fashion retail executive and consultant and the one-time fashion director and president of

Bergdorf Goodman Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is an American luxury department store based in New York City, founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf. , it operates a women's store and a men's store across the street from each other on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. ...

. Subsequently she moved to Italy to manage

Gucci Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and ...

. Later she was the president of her own firm, Dawn Mello & Associates LLC.

Biography

Dawn Mello was born in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest List of municipalities in Massachusetts, municipality in Massachusetts, United States, and the largest city in Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line ...

, and studied at the Modern School of Fashion and Design in Boston and the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts. She started her career as an assistant at B. Altman and Company in 1959. From 1960 to 1971, she worked at

The May Department Stores Company The May Department Stores Company was an American holding company of department stores founded in 1877 by David May. It operated several regional department stores throughout the United States, which were managed as distinct business divisions ...

's NY buying office. In 1975, Mello was hired by Bergdorf's then chairman Ira Neimark to become the store's fashion director. It was during this tenure at the store that she is credited with discovering and promoting the talents and designs of

Michael Kors Michael David Kors (born Karl Anderson Jr. August 9, 1959) is an American fashion designer. He is the chief creative officer of his brand, Michael Kors, which sells men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, watches, jewelry, footwear, and f ...

. In the 1980s, she was a mentor to

Donna Karan Donna Karan ( ; born Donna Ivy Faske), also known as DK, is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels. Early life and education Karan was born to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabinow ...

. Dawn Mello was hired in November 1989 as

's executive vice president and chief designer. She reduced the number of stores from +1,000 to 180 in a move to rebuild the brand’s exclusivity. She also reduced the number of items sold by Gucci from 22,000 to 7,000. She revived the Bamboo bag and the Gucci loafer. Dawn Mello hired

Tom Ford Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched Tom Ford (brand), his eponymous brand in 2005, having previously been the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves Sai ...

to oversee Gucci women's ready-to-wear collection. She quit after 5 years in Italy and returned to Bergdorf Goodman as president of the company. Mello died on February 16, 2020, at the age of 88.

Private life

In 1998, she purchased a penthouse in New York (30 Sutton Place) that was previously owned by

Doris Duke Doris Duke (November 22, 1912 – October 28, 1993) was an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, and socialite. She was often called "the richest girl in the world". Her great wealth, luxurious lifestyle, and love life attracted ...

. It was listed on the market a few months after her death.

Filmography

Mello appeared in the 2013 documentary '' Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mello, Dawn 1931 births 2020 deaths American businesspeople in fashion People from Lynn, Massachusetts American expatriates in Italy

Biography

Private life

Filmography

Further reading

References