Featured "vintage" silk scarf - David Gordon for Glentex ca.1980(?)

I have a large silk scarf I bought years ago, planning to frame it for a certain Francophile of my acquaintance. I never quite got around to it, and that friend is now deceased. The scarf popped out of a box of scarves I unearthed this weekend, and I started wondering about it. This is the scarf:


An online search turned up only one like it - and that one was framed & for sale
@ $350. (Good luck with that!) For sale here:
https://www.middleburyconsignment.com/products/glentex-french-lingo-silk-scarf/

I only found two other scarf designs marked with the same David Gordon for Glentex, but those 2 also had the name of fashion designer Michaele Vollbracht on them. [Since Vollbracht was only on his own (not tied to a design house) from 1979-1985, I figured the scarves must date to that era. (Also, he stopped using the "e" on the end of Michaele in 1985.)] These are the 2 others:




The style of these last 2 is so similar to the one I have that I figure both were likely designed by David Gordon himself, not by Vollbracht.

Does anyone have any idea who this DAVID GORDON might have been? There's a book illustrator by the same name doing children's books now, but he's undoubtedly too young (b.1965) to be the same person.

The style just seems so familiar, but I can't seem to pin down the designer... Here are a few close-ups from the one I have:





Is any of this at all familiar to anyone?

Thanks for any input & insight!

 

Rather unique....sorry I can't be of any help.

 

I can't help either, except to say it's fantastic.

Framed makes it even more so.

 

I know zilch about your scarf (except that it seems generally familiar to me as well), nor do I know about the artist. I DO know the MCS.

I do not shop there!

 

Where does Vollbracht's signature appear on the other two? (Can't find.) And are there close-ups of tags?

Debora

 

Oh, dear, Silver! I don't know them at all, but I have no plans to shop there, either!

Debora,

On the Calorie Counter one, the sigs are in 2 different places:



I'm not sure WHERE they are on the Skiing one, but I think at least one sig is above the word PRACTICE at the lower left. I don't have a clear close-up of the area, and there are no close-ups of tags shown on either one.

To complicate things, mine has no tags.

 

I love it too. Bet it would bring nice money if you sold it.
The novelty hankies and scarves can do well.
That's all I got.

 

Well, I do feel a bit of an idiot now, after pulling out the scarf & looking it over, yet again...

It turns out that mine, too, has a Vollbracht sig on it - and this time, it says ARTIST MICHAELE VOLLBRACT:



At this point, I think I need to stop staring at overly busy patterns and speculating in areas where I have absolutely no expertise!

Thanks again, everyone, for your input and ideas!

 

Hum... How interesting (but I'm a bit dizzy from all the information.) I'd think David Gordon wasn't a designer but a man who developed a scarf collection for Glentex. The brand had been in existence since 1939 and "David Gordon for Glentex" might have been an effort to target a younger, hipper customer. (The book below, which I can't access, might be helpful; it has a mention of Gordon.) The first two scarves appear to date to the 1970s. The third might be a tad later. (Hard to tell from photograph.) Vollbracht could very well have designed the signed two during his Bendel years. In fact, they might even have been sold at Bendel's. The store was known for its small boutique collections. Of course, you'd need to research yours further to associate it with Vollbracht.

Debora

 

Well, there you go. Three Vollbracht scarves. The fact that Vollbracht is credited as "artist" would lead one to believe that they were done during his in-house days as an illustrator, either at Bendel's or Bloomie's. That would be pre-1979.

Debora

 

Yes, indeed, Debora - as am I! (I am also totally out of my element here, in case you couldn't tell.)

Ah, something else to consider!

I think I need to look around for a copy of that book!

Thank you SO much for the ideas & insight!

 

And you might want to order 'Nothing Sacred,' his 1985 "visual diary" from that great Socialist institution, your local public library.

Debora

 

Debora, I finally got a copy of this book. Disappointing... The only reference was this photo and description:

I've gone over the photo in the book with my loupe but can't tell if the Vollbracht name is on there or not. (It's not a very big picture.)

I'm still waiting to get my hands on Nothing Sacred. We'll see.

Thanks again.

 

Really appreciate you bringing us up to date.

Debora