The press loved the idea of an ‘American in Paris’, coming out of the tradition of people like Joséphine Baker … Patrick marketed his designs in a new way.¹ – Mary Ann Wheaton, former CEO and president, Patrick Kelly Inc.
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Fashion Culture | BUTTONS and BOWS, etc.!, A PICTORIAL View, The Patrick Kelly Story
I hope when they think about me, they think of being happy. There’s so much sadness in the world. And if you can stick a button on something or funny hat, I’m the one for you.¹ – Patrick Kelly
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Fashion Culture | “I LOVE Lycra Dresses and Spare-Ribs”: The Patrick Kelly Story
Patrick Kelly (1954–1990) also loved “Fried Catfish, Fried Chicken and “Foie Gras” …, Buttons and Bows, Pearls and Popcorn, Madame Grès, “I Love Lucy”, Bette Davis, Martin Luther King, and All Women (Fat, Skinny, and Between…).”¹
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Fashion Culture | Beauty, IDENTITY, and Representation: The Patrick Kelly Story
Every exhibition is its own intellectual exercise and exhibitions start conversations. – Laura L. Camerlengo, Associate Curator of Costume and Textile Arts, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and presenting curator, Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love
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Fashion Culture | Elizabeth, Fannie, Anne, and Zelda, Fashion’s First Black Designers
I love my clothes and I’m particular about whom I sew for. I’m an awful snob. I’m not interested in sewing for café society or for social climbers. I do not cater to Mary and Sue. I sew for the families of the social register. – Anne Lowe Gerri Major, Ebony Magazine, December 1966
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Fashion Culture | The Empowering Effect of Ebony Fashion Fair
From civil rights to the catwalk, Ebony Fashion Fair defied all odds and left an empowering effect on the African American community. The cumulative effect of years of presenting high fashion to African Americans, on African Americans, with African Americans taste-making in mind, enabled Mrs. Johnson to be a change-agent who harnessed the power of […]
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Fashion Culture | Willi Smith: The Creative Intersection of an American Genius
I don’t design clothes for the Queen; but for the people who wave at her as she goes by. – Willi Smith
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Pratt Manhattan Gallery – “Black Dress: Ten Contemporary Fashion Designers”
As an art enthusiast, I love attending art exhibits at galleries and museums. When it comes to fashion exhibitions at these institutions, it is typically the history of a fashion genre, designer, or culture. Rarely do you see an event with current contemporary designers exhibiting what’s culturally relevant today, and rarer, one of Black designers. […]
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