Patrick Kelly:
Runway of Love
and
Gerlan Jeans ♥
Patrick Kelly
Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love April 27–November 30, 2014 Special Exhibitions Gallery, Perelman Building
Fashion is celebrated this spring at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the retrospective Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love, which explores the meteoric rise and remarkable achievements of a 1980's legend whose clothing was worn by women of every age, from actress Bette Davis, late in her life, to singer Vanessa Williams, then in her twenties. This is the first exhibition to showcase the full scope of Kelly’s head-to-toe runway ensembles, and will include selections from the artist’s significant holdings of black memorabilia, videos of his exuberant fashion shows, and works by renowned photographers Horst P. Horst, Pierre et Gilles, and Oliviero Toscani.
The exhibition is organized into six sections, beginning with Kelly’s 1983–84 collection for the Italian experimental design group Studio Invenzione and continuing through his final Fall/Winter 1989–90 collection. It opens with “Runway of Love,” highlighting the designer’s heart-shaped embellishments to his clothing, often composed from his signature buttons. As a child growing up in Mississippi, Kelly would often lose his buttons, which his grandmother replaced with those of many different colors, a look that Kelly later adapted for his fashion designs.
”Fast Fashion” includes designs that Kelly assembled quickly to sell on the
streets of Paris after he moved there in 1979. He dressed his model friends in
body-conscious knits, which they would wear around the city, becoming in effect
living advertisements of his vision. These dresses quickly caught the attention
ofELLE magazine,
which featured Kelly’s fashions in a six-page spread in February 1985, as well
as the Paris boutique Victoire. His first collection was purchased by Bergdorf
Goodman, who found Kelly’s designs fun, chic, affordable, and Parisian, and the
store showcased them in a window display reserved for new designers.
The American South, where Kelly was born and raised, informed and inspired his
brand from the very beginning. He used the concept of women dressed up in their
Sunday best as a point of departure for many of his looks. “Mississippi in
Paris” features Kelly’s work that boldly addressed the designer’s upbringing, as
well as racial tropes, from his insouciant Aunt Jemima bandana and golliwog
dresses, the latter of which was adapted as his logo.
“Hot Couture” is a playful tribute to Kelly’s muses and to fashion history. Many
of Kelly’s own presentations parodied fashion show traditions and riffed on the
work of famed couturiers such as Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Madame Grès,
the designer whom Kelly admired most and held in highest regard. A master at
draping and manipulating fabric into Greek goddess-like gowns, Madame Grès
inspired Kelly’s much more practical body-conscious knitted jersey dresses with
wraps that could be tied around the body in various ways.
In 1988, shortly after receiving financial backing from the fashion powerhouse
Warnaco, Kelly became the first American and the first black designer to be
elected into the elite Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des
Créateurs de Mode. Membership in this exclusive group allowed Kelly to present
his ready-to-wear collections in the tents at the Musée du Louvre. The section
titled “Lisa Loves the Louvre” features designs from this Spring/Summer 1989
collection, for which Kelly fantasized that the museum’s most famous resident,
Mona Lisa, invited him to show his latest designs. His collection was a spirited
evocation of all his favorite Lisas, from Billie
(Holiday) Lisa to the
other-worldly Moona
Lisa.
The exhibition’s final section, “Two Loves” is a tribute to Kelly’s loves,
America and France, which were also embraced by his muse Josephine Baker. The
designs in this section are from Kelly’s final Fall/Winter 1989–90 collection,
and pay homage to cultural icons from both countries, including the Eiffel Tower
and the cartoon character Jessica Rabbit. The exhibition’s rousing finale is an
allusion to the Casino de Paris music hall, where Baker performed during the
1920, and which Kelly transforms into the Casino de Patrick.
Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love will
showcase over eighty ensembles recently presented to the Museum as a promised
gift by Kelly’s business and life partner, Bjorn Guil Amelan, and Bill T. Jones.
The exhibition will be accompanied by public programs this fall, including a
fashion film series and a conversation about Patrick Kelly and his fashion
designs and career with supermodel Pat Cleveland, writer Michael Gross, and
fashion journalist Carol Mongo.
Visit the museums website for any possible date and time changes of the event if you are planning a trip.Thank you for taking the time to read our fashion blog post. We hope that you have found this news to be informative. If you have comments or questions, please add your thoughts in the discussion area below.
