Jessica McClintock

McClintock was born as Jessica Gagnon in Presque Isle, Maine on June 19, 1930.[2] Growing up in the state of Maine, McClintock's father was a shoe salesman, and her mother was a beautician. When McClintock told her mother of her dream of designing dresses, her mother encouraged McClintock to use her creative side. Using skills she learned at an early age from her grandmother, an artist, once she began her career, McClintock made a name in fashion quickly. McClintock attended Boston University from 1947 to 1949.

McClintock attended Boston University from 1947 to 1949. At age 19, McClintock quit her studies to marry Al Staples, an engineering student at MIT.[3] Shortly after her marriage, McClintock obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from San Jose State University in California.[2]

In 1963, Al Staples died in an automobile accident. This led to a second marriage, to airplane pilot Fred McClintock, who was a friend of her husband. This marriage shortly ended in a divorce in 1967.[3] Jessica McClintock was a school teacher in Marblehead, Massachusetts, 1966–68 and Long Island, New York, 1968.[4] After the divorce, McClintock and her son Scott moved to San Francisco, California. McClintock continued her career as a school teacher at Nimitz Elementary School in Sunnyvale, California, 1964–65 and 1968–69.[4]

For the last 20 years of her life, McClintock enjoyed sharing the fashion business with the niece who shared her namesake, Jessica (now Jessica Souza), and grand niece, Madelyn Souza, whom McClintock was encouraging a career in fashion when she died in 2021, aged 90, in San Francisco, of natural causes.[5]

While living in San Francisco, in 1969 McClintock met Eleanor Bailey, who was the head of design and production and looking for investors for Gunne Sax Company, a local dress store.[6] In 1970, McClintock invested $5,000 from her savings and became partners with Bailey, directly in charge of the designing and marketing of the new dress line. Bailey stepped down, leaving McClintock the sole owner of Gunne Sax.

McClintock started with a single-line clothing company and expanded it into a multifaceted outlet targeting international customers looking to purchase bridal, junior and children's designer clothing. McClintock's main design focus was on "romance." Her designs sold worldwide, including regions such as the Middle East, Asia and Europe.[7] In 1979, two new clothing lines were created: One was to target girls with the Gunne Sax line, and the other was a secondary contemporary line under the McClintock name/label. Since these two lines became a success, McClintock was able to open her own retail stores. The first Jessica McClintock store was opened in San Francisco in 1981. A year later, Jessica's son, Scott McClintock, joined the company and made two clothing lines that were manufactured under labels of Scott McClintock Dresses and Scott McClintock Sport. In 1987, Jessica McClintock renamed Gunne Sax as Jessica McClintock. She also added sleepwear lines and her fragrance line. By the mid-90s, McClintock had opened a total of 41 boutiques with reported annual sales of $100 million, and her dresses were sold in department stores in the U.S and other countries. She made her company a family affair with her brother, Jack Hedrich, as vice president of the company, and Bruce Hutchins, her cousin, in charge of the McClintock boutiques. Her niece, Jessica Hutchins, was responsible for the bridal wear line.[7]

After spending over 40 years creating satin, silk and tulle gowns, fragrances and other products, McClintock shifted her role with the company at the age of 83 to the oversight of the Jessica McClintock master brand licensing business. With the closing of the designer's stores, outlets, and online store by November 2013, her company transitioned to a full licensing model with the company growing through leading category licensees.

Today the Jessica McClintock brand offers fragrance, handbags, fashion jewelry, eyewear, fashion accessories, and home products.