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PATRICK KELLY’S LOVE LIST

I Love:

–       Families, especially Grandmothers and Mothers

–       Nice People, Work Vacations

–       Fried Chicken and “Foie Gras” and “Fauchon” Croissants

–       Buttons and Bows

–       Dolls

–       Hats

–       Gardenias

–       Pearls and Popcorn

–       Pretty Things

–       Madame Gres

–       Pretty Girls and Valentine Candy Boxes and Fried Catfish

–       All Women (Fat, Skinny and Between…)

–       Lycra Dresses and Spare-Ribs

–       Non-Smokers

–       Ethel Rainey, Bette Davis, Martin Luther King

–       Josephine Baker and Pat Cleveland

–       Connie

–       Parties

–       “I Love Lucy”

–       Music: Gospel, Loud, Classical, Rap, Jazz, Soul, Luther Vandross

–       Big Overalls

–       Birthdays and Christmas

–       Paris in the Springtime, in the Fall, in the Winter

BUT ESPECIALLY IN MISSISSIPPI

–       Churches

–       Buttons, Buttons, Buttons

–       Fun

…………………………..and You!

 (by Patrick Kelly)

Joy, love and fashion aren’t usually synonymous terms, at least not these days. To our cynical 21^st century ears it sounds like some corny slogan appropriated by a store chain or mass market name brand.

But in the world of the late designer Patrick Kelly, those terms were not only synonymous but harmonious with nary a shade of irony or knowing sarcasm to muddy the waters.

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All that is in evidence in “Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love,”  an expansive retrospective exhibit on display through Nov. 30 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The exhibit, which is housed in the museum’s contemporary design-focused Perelman Building, is the first exhibition to show the full range of Kelly’s creative world, from his fashions to his collection of black memorabilia, videos from his fashion shows and portraits of Kelly by noted photographers including Horst P. Horst.

Gerlan Jeans looks from Patrick Kelly exhibit. Images courtesy of out.com

In addition to the Philadelphia Museum’s Kelly exhibition, the museum is also presenting “Gerlan Jeans (hearts) Patrick Kelly, which shows current pieces by designer Gerlan Marcel that reinterpret Kelly’s signatures or were inspired by Kelly. In the fall, the museum will host a panel discussion and showings of fashion documentaries in conjunction with the “Runway of Love” exhibit.

Image courtesy of the philamuseum.org

The “Runway of Love” exhibit, which is organized into six sections, covers everything from his 1983-84 collections for the Italian design group Studio Invenzions, to the body-hugging knit pieces he created for his model friends shortly after moving to Paris in 1979, to pieces from his fall/winter 1989-90 collection.

Kelly’s time in the fashion spotlight was relatively brief. The Vicksburg, Miss. native moved to Paris in 1979—with the help of his friend, the model Pat Cleveland. By 1985, the dresses he had created for his model friends had put him on the radar of major fashion editors and he was featured in Elle magazine as well as the Paris boutique, Victoire. Soon after, he sold his first collection to Bergdorf Goodman.

Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Kelly quickly became known for the use of heart-shaped embellishments in his designs, often created with buttons; his exuberant runway shows would typically open with Kelly, dressed in his signature oversized denim overalls and baseball cap, spray painting a heart onto a back drop. Other Kelly signatures included his form-fitting knit dresses, brilliant and bold  colors, animal prints and eye-catching trims—from safety pins to fringes made of miniatures of the Eiffel Tower.

“You can’t help but admire the creativity and the sense of fun,” said exhibit curator Dilys Blum. “But you also really see how much what he was doing then can be seen in fashion of today.”

But there was an edge to Kelly’s work, too. He adapted the golliwog—a symbol of racial stereotypes —as his logo and incorporated that image, as well as other well known symbolic images like Aunt Jemima’s head rag and even a workman’s denim overalls, into his designs.

Bette Davis in Patrick Kelly

In 1988 he received financial support from the American clothing giant Warnaco and also became the first black designer elected into the prestigious Chambre Syndicale du Pret-a-Porter des Couturiers et des Createurs de Mode, the French fashion standards organization. His customers came to include icons and celebrities including Bette Davis, Jessye Norman, Isabella Rossellini, Jane Seymour, and even Princess Diana.

But all that ended in 1990 when Kelly died of complications from AIDS. He was cagey about his real age but was believed to be either 35 or 40 when he died.

Supermodel Coco Mitchell in Patrick Kelly

In addition to the 80 pieces by Kelly in the “Runway of Love” exhibit, excerpts from Kelly’s festive runway shows are shown on screens around the gallery, featuring a bevy of the top models from that era—all smiling and grooving down the Kelly runway—including Coco Mitchell, Naomi Campbell, Iman, Roshumba, L’Wren Scott, Grace Jones, and Pat Cleveland. A soundtrack of ‘80s-era club music classics adds to the spirited atmosphere. And visitors can sit down and watch entire Kelly runway shows in the gallery showing the Gerlan tribute pieces.

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Blum said “Runway of Love” is designed not only to remind viewers of the charm of Kelly’s creations, but to recall an era, albeit brief, when fashion was not only bold and bright but creative enough to meld commercial sensibilities with fun motifs like Kelly’s love of buttons and challenging themes like racial stereotypes.

“When you look at such a wide assortment of his work all together you really see the artistry,” Blum said. “I remember that Kelly was very upset when someone, I think it was (the late Vogue fashion editor) Carrie Donovan, had said that all he was about was buttons and bows. “When you see the collections together you realize that was not all that he was about at all. He was much more creative than he was given credit for. “

Images courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

For example, Blum said Kelly’s suits show a real mastery of tailoring that Kelly wasn’t acknowledged for enough in her opinion. “His suits were very sophisticated—well tailored, fabulous fabrics. He knew what he was doing,” she said. “Unfortunately, I think Kelly created a myth for himself and, in a way, I think that in the beginning, especially, that maybe detracted from his sophistication and abilities. People looked at the myth of him selling these clothes on the street and then miraculously getting backed by Warnaco. But there was a lot more to him than that. “

And Blum said even those who counted themselves as Kelly fans may be surprised to learn about Kelly’s freelance work that included lines for major brands such as Benetton and Eres swimwear. “Those were things he played down because he was really focused on building his own brand,” Blum said. “But he was a very versatile designer and the way he used embellishments—whether surface design or his buttons—was just extraordinary. It was never just buttons.”

The exhibit is divided, for the most part, by Kelly’s collections. But, unlike the singular themes that frame most collections seen on today’s runways, Kelly’s collections were known for bursting with multiple ideas and themes.

Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

An area devoted to his spring/summer 89 collection shows Kelly’s so-called Mona’s Bet ensembles with a Las Vegas theme such as a knit mini dress featuring Kelly’s signature heart, done here in yellow and black gambling dice. That same collection also included homage to a Kelly icon—Josephine Baker as well as a commencement section with what Kelly called the, “The Miss M. Lisa Graduates.”

“There was just a real sense of fun and color to his clothes,” Blum said. “When people go into the exhibit, they come out smiling. The clothes do exactly what (Kelly) wanted. He wanted to design clothes that make people happy.

“You walk into the gallery and it’s just uplifting—his use of color, the spirit in the clothes. It was fun. His clothes were for people who really enjoyed dressing.”

Image courtesy of Philadelphia Museum of Art

“Runway of Love” also includes other aspects of Kelly’s world, from portraits of Kelly by noted photographers to photos of Kelly’s favorite muse—the model-actress Grace Jones. Black memorabilia from Kelly’s personal collection is also included in the exhibit, showing the historical inspiration for a controversial section of Kelly’s spring 1986 collection.

“Kelly had a very extensive collection of black memorabilia including about 3,000 dolls, lots of Josephine Baker material and all sorts of other things.  I wanted to show some of that so you can see the relation to pieces like the Aunt Jemima polka dot dress or the Golliwog dress,” Blum said. “He really twisted these things, these images and symbols that were associated with such pain and used them in a way that they lose the bitterness and racist overtones. They become something that you can embrace, which was what he wanted to do. It was very intentional. He really felt there was an importance to knowing where you came from and embracing your own history.”

Blum said, for her, the real showstopper of the exhibit is among the series of heart-embellished creations featured on a red raised runway in the center of the gallery.

“There’s a dress that he designed for an AIDS benefit with an embroidered heart and the heart strings are unraveling. I just love the statement that it makes. It’s just very poignant,” Blum said. “I think it also has this other feeling about it, this look of understatement. His work just has a feeling to it that you don’t often come across in fashion.”

Image courtesy of fashioncam.com

For more information and a schedule of related programs go online to philamuseum.org.

—Karyn D. Collins