One Sunday morning, during his first year of college, Jerry Kaye woke up bruised and battered from a college football game and had a moment of clarity. “Forget this,” he said. “I’m gonna make dresses.”
A first-generation American who grew up in South Detroit, Kaye felt the influence of his European heritage. He loved architecture and art. He noticed costumes in movies and made clothes for his G.I. Joes.
When he switched from football to fashion, Kaye was accepted to the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York City. He arrived with one suitcase and spent the first month living in the YMCA. Life was different in the fashion world.
“I was the outsider,” he says, “so I just put my head down and went to work.”
Before graduating from Parsons, Kaye already had momentum. After starting with a couple designers, he secured a career-defining role as Creative Director at Perry Ellis. There he began crafting clothes in Italy alongside some of the finest makers in the world. "I fell in love with it," he says. "To think that Prato, where I've spent so much time, has been producing recycled fabric for 800 years."
Gina Hansen grew up on a farm outside Papillion. She studied fashion merchandising at UNL and enjoyed an international modeling career.
They met in Miami in 2002. Kaye and Hansen soon became a couple and settled in New York City. The city felt like a collection of small neighborhoods in those days. But soon, chain stores replaced bodegas, and the cost of living rose.
One afternoon, on a trip to visit family and plan their wedding at the Joslyn Art Museum, Kaye looked around and said, “I could live here.”
He had become a fashion consultant by then, and together they had opened an accessible luxury clothing line at jerrykayecollection.com. They realized they could work from anywhere, so why not Nebraska?
Today, work is based out of their home in Papillion. Inspiration comes from everything they encounter - art, nature, or the slant of the sun on a city street. Hansen focuses mostly on marketing and coordinating with retailers. Kaye travels to Italy to choose fabrics and finishes and works directly with the factories that bring his menswear designs to life.
Their line features jackets, shirts, and knits with a soft, refined finish. They describe it as clothing for “the man who has somewhere to be and nowhere to rush to.” It is available online and in select stores.
Kaye and Hansen say the sense of community they loved in New York City is part of the culture in Papillion. They find it in their neighborhood, in local shops, and through various art and music venues. Having an extended family around is also a plus. “We always loved seeing family on holidays,” Hansen says,” but it is great to see them on any random Tuesday.” Kaye and Hansen still enjoy traveling to places like Italy and New York, but they are always glad to come home to Nebraska.