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Mary McFadden

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American fashion designer (1938–2024)

Mary McFadden
Headshot of McFadden in white clothes adorned with jewelry in a dark settingMcFadden in 1999
Born(1938-10-01)October 1, 1938
New York City, U.S.
DiedSeptember 13, 2024(2024-09-13) (aged 85)
Southampton, New York, U.S.
OccupationDesigner
Spouses
  • Philip Harari ​ ​(m. 1964, divorced)​
  • Frank McEwen ​ ​(m. 1969; div. 1970)​
  • Armin Schmidt (divorced)
  • Kohle Yohannan ​ ​(m. 1989; div. 1992)​
  • Vasilos Calitsis ​ ​(m. 1996, divorced)​
Children1

Mary McFadden (October 1, 1938 – September 13, 2024) was an American art collector, editor, fashion designer, and writer. She designed pleated dresses which were popular with women in high society.

Early life and education

McFadden was born on October 1, 1938, in Manhattan, New York, and spent the early part of her childhood on a cotton plantation outside Memphis, Tennessee. When she was nine, her father died in an avalanche while he was skiing in Aspen, Colorado. Afterwards, the family moved to Westbury, New York, and she was sent to the Foxcroft School from which she graduated. She went on to attend Columbia University, the Ecole Lubec, the New School for Social Research, the Sorbonne, and the Traphagen School of Fashion (1956, Costume Design).

Career

Between 1962 and 1964, McFadden worked as public relations director at Christian Dior in New York and Paris. Since she knew nothing about publicity, she made an agreement that she would be paid in the form of 50 dresses per year from Dior-New York and Dior-Paris instead of money. She then married Philip Harari, a merchant for De Beers. She relocated to South Africa in the same year and Diana Vreeland arranged for her to become an editor for Vogue South Africa, she was in the position until 1966 when the magazine was closed. She then worked for The Rand Daily Mail as a travel and political columnist. She was also a freelance editor for Vogue Paris between 1968 and 1970.

In 1976, McFadden began the clothing company Mary McFadden Inc. The company was noted for the McFadden-designed pleated dresses, which draped "like liquid gold" down a woman's body similar to those on the caryatids at the Acropolis. The dresses were similar to the earlier work of Henriette Negrin and Mariano Fortuny. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute curator Harold Koda deemed her a "design archaeologist" for her historically inspired work. The dresses were made from Marii, a synthetic charmeuse patented by McFadden in 1975 that was made in Australia, dyed in Japan, and then machine-pressed in the United States. The dresses were popular with socialites including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The company closed in 2002.

From 1982 to 1983, McFadden was the first female President of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

In 2012, McFadden and her companion Murray Gell-Mann published the book Mary McFadden: A Lifetime of Design, Collecting, and Adventure.

McFadden also licensed her name to many products such as eyewear, footwear, home furnishings, and sleepwear.

In 2024, Drexel University staged an exhibition of McFadden's fashion creations titled Modern Ritual: The Art of Mary McFadden.

Personal life

McFadden claimed to be married at least eleven times, but declared that some of these marriages were "only spiritual".

McFadden is known to have been married to, in chronological order:

  • Philip Harari (married 1964, divorced). They were married in Saint Bartholomew's Protestant Episcopal Church in New York City, and McFadden's attendants included Warhol star Baby Jane Holzer.
  • Frank McEwen (married 1969, divorced 1970), museum director
  • Armin Schmidt (later divorced)
  • Kohle Yohannan (married 1989, divorced 1992), historian
  • Vasilos Calitsis (married 1996, later divorced), Greek director

McFadden had a daughter, Justine Harari, from her marriage to Philip Harari.

Mary McFadden died from myelodysplasia at her home in Southampton, New York, on September 13, 2024, at the age of 85.

Awards

References

  1. ^ Charlotte Curtis, "Mary McFadden Married to Philip Harari at St. Bartholomew's; Former Dior Aide is Wed to Director in De Beers Group", The New York Times, September 26, 1964
  2. ^ José Blanco F.; Patricia Kay Hunt-Hurst; Heather Vaughan Lee; Mary Doering (November 23, 2015). Clothing and Fashion: American Fashion from Head to Toe [4 volumes]: American Fashion from Head to Toe. ABC-CLIO. pp. 3–. ISBN 978-1-61069-310-3.
  3. ^ Mary McFadden; Murray Gell-Mann (2012). Mary McFadden: A Lifetime of Design, Collecting, and Adventure. Random House Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-8478-3656-7.
  4. Alford, Holly Price (November 3, 2022). Who's Who in Fashion. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-5013-7347-3. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  5. ^ Louie, Elaine (September 14, 2024). "Mary McFadden, Celebrated Designer of Shimmering Dresses, Dies at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  6. Bennetts, Leslie (March 2, 1979). "Mary McFadden: Life of Her Own Design". New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  7. ^ "Mary McFadden Is Married – The New York Times". The New York Times. June 25, 1989. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  8. "Traphagen Alumni, The Traphagen School: Fostering American Fashion". Museum at FIT. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  9. ^ McFadden, Mary; Gell-Mann, Murray (2011). Mary McFadden: A Lifetime of Design, Collecting, and Adventure. Rizzoli. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-8478-3656-7.
  10. ^ Elizabeth Sleeman (2001). The International Who's Who of Women 2002. Psychology Press. pp. 348–. ISBN 978-1-85743-122-3.
  11. ^ Francesca Sterlacci; Joanne Arbuckle (June 30, 2017). Historical Dictionary of the Fashion Industry. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 319–. ISBN 978-1-4422-3909-8.
  12. ^ Naylor, Colin (1990). Contemporary Designers. St. James Press. p. 382. ISBN 978-0-912289-69-4.
  13. Francesca Sterlacci; Joanne Arbuckle (October 26, 2009). The A to Z of the Fashion Industry. Scarecrow Press. pp. 157–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7046-8.
  14. "A Primer on Mary McFadden, the Designer Whose Vintage Dresses 'Vogue' Editors Are Lusting over". May 25, 2024.
  15. ^ "NMWA Celebrates the work of American Fashion Designer Mary McFadden in Mary McFadden: Goddesses | National Museum of Women in the Arts". Nmwa.org. August 30, 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  16. "Modern Ritual: The Art of Mary McFadden". Drexel University. n.d. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  17. New York Media, LLC (March 26, 1990). New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. pp. 40–.
  18. Feitelberg, Rosemary (September 13, 2024). "Mary McFadden Dies at 85". WWD. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  19. ^ Sharon G. Hoffman; Amanda M. Mott (2008). Moore College of Art & Design. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 23–. ISBN 978-0-7385-5659-8.
  20. Hyde, Nina S. (May 28, 1978). "Fashion Notes". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  21. "MARY MCFADDEN". Council of Fashion Designers of America. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  22. ^ Holly Price Alford; Anne Stegemeyer (September 25, 2014). Who's Who in Fashion. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 259–. ISBN 978-1-60901-969-3.
  23. "Moore College of Art & Design – Mary McFadden Receives Visionary Woman 2008". Moore.edu. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  24. Fair, Vanity (September 6, 2017). "Introducing the International Best-Dressed List 2017 Hall of Fame". Vanity Fair. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  25. "Ireland Calling, MCFADDEN – SCOTTISH SONS OF LITTLE PATRICK". Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  26. "NOBEL LAUREATE BARUJ BENACERRAF, DESIGNER MARY MCFADDEN, & MASTER CHEF JACQUES PEPIN AMONG ALUMNI TO BE HONORED BY COLUMBIA". Retrieved May 31, 2018.

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