Peabody Essex Museum salutes late Black fashion designer Patrick Kelly

Patrick Kelly’s Fall/Winter 1989–1990 advertising campaign. Photograph by Oliviero Toscani. Courtesy of the estate of Patrick Kelly. Scan by Randy Dodson / Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Copyright Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Patrick Kelly’s Fall/Winter 1989–1990 advertising campaign. Photograph by Oliviero Toscani. Courtesy of the estate of Patrick Kelly. Scan by Randy Dodson / Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Copyright Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Patrick Kelly’s Fall/Winter 1989–1990 advertising campaign. Photograph by Oliviero Toscani. Courtesy of the estate of Patrick Kelly. Scan by Randy Dodson / Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Copyright Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

SALEM, Mass. – The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) is currently hosting an exhibition that celebrates the life and legacy of the late fashion designer Patrick Kelly. Rooted in expressions of love and joy and inspired by his experiences growing up in the American South, Kelly’s fearless yet lighthearted designs pushed racial and cultural boundaries. First exhibited by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2014, and reconstituted for a run at the de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in 2021, Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love will be on view at PEM through November 6.

Continue reading