Baby doll bracelet designed by Patrick Kelly

Patrick Kelly, American, 1954 - 1990 · 1987

Patrick Kelly, a young, gay African American designer from Mississippi, became an international sensation in Paris during the mid-1980s for his bold and often whimsical designs. As the first American and person of color to be admitted as a member of the Chambre syndicale du prêt-à-porter, he broke barriers in the French fashion industry. Drawing on his childhood in the American South as inspiration, Kelly repurposed racial imagery and integrated elements of Black joy through bright colors, bows, and an extravagant use of buttons. Though his career lasted only from 1985 to 1990 before his death at 35 from AIDS complications, Kelly’s influence was profound—elevating African American designers and creating space for others, like Kerby Jean-Raymond, to playfully explore racial themes in fashion.