In honor of Black History Month, I want us to go back to the peak glory days for innovative designers. One of those innovative designers was Patrick Kelly.
The majority of fashion houses in luxury fashion are owned by 3-4 conglomerate parent companies that dictate what constitutes “luxury” in fashion, to the benefit of their shareholders and the families that own these parent companies.
It’s why we keep seeing musical chairs of creative directors, and sometimes (not always, but alas) a focus on scalability and profit of luxury brands and many people have questioned if luxury fashion has seen more of an erosion of quality control.
With the growing allegations against luxury houses like Dior producing $2,000 handbags for $57 in deplorable and exploitive labor conditions– to consumers decrying Chanel’s constant price hikes without major shifts in the production of their signature leather goods offerings; It’s an interesting time to be a Creative Director for a luxury fashion house.
Pair those dynamics of the marketplace with another unfortunate reality: we don’t see enough Black designers at the helm of the heritage and luxury designer houses, though Black culture has shown time and time again that we contribute greatly to the luxury space and to fashion culture overall.
Remembering Patrick Kelly
I’ve been reflecting on the designs and the cultural impact of Patrick Kelly– a Black American designer hailing from Vicksburg, Mississippi who rose to fame in Parîs, France as the “designer to watch“. Known for pioneering size inclusivity in couture, designing for both straight size and plus size- Kelly had a through line in his designs that told the stories of Black matriarchs as pillars of strength in Black culture.
I had the beautiful opportunity a few years ago to visit an exhibition highlighting his career at the San Francisco De Young Museum. There, the curators displayed many of Kelly’s celebrated runway pieces from Haute Couture to Ready to Wear. But I was truly humbled by the collection of Black memorabilia- dolls and trinkets from the time of Jim Crow- sambo dolls and caricatures of Black people. Many of these items were constant motifs in his work as a designer and an artist.
He drew from these inspirations constantly, and becoming the first African American designer to gain acceptance in the “the Chambre Syndicale Du Prêt A Porter Des Couturiers”, the authority for French Ready To Wear fashion as art form.
This trajectory in luxury fashion allowed him to showcase these Black Americana infused designs to the world. He championed the celebration of the woman’s bodies- specifically Black women’s bodies, featuring a pregnant model in one of his shows, and collaborating with noted supermodels Pat Cleveland and Iman. Patrick Kelly designed couture for celebrity clients like Grace Jones and Madonna and Cicely Tyson and until his death in 1990 due to the AIDS epidemic had been the designer to watch, and his influence in fashion and pop culture to this day has been immeasurable.
The Legacy of Couture Designer Patrick Kelly’s Contribution to Size Inclusive Luxury Fashion & JIBRI’s Kelly Button Dress
Jasmine Elder and JIBRI’s commitment to craft, and the celebration of women’s bodies is synonymous with the ethos and the cultural impact of Patrick Kelly.
In celebration of Black History Month, JIBRI has re-released the “Kelly Button Dress” as an homage to impact and cultural significance of Patrick Kelly on both Jasmine Elder’s journey as a designer, his immeasurable contribution to Black culture, and his broader impact on celebrating all women, and the celebration of our bodies in all sizes.
It’s a special opportunity to own a piece of culture through a garment. It’s a rare instance where a dress can emote and communicate so much about history, triumph, culture and revolution.
The Kelly Button Dress is an homage to the works of one of our generation’s most brilliant designer who wasn’t given his full due for his influence and contributions to fashion before his timely death. But it’s also a celebration of a designer who helped revolutionize the body positivity movement and usher in an era of opulence in luxury apparel for plus sizes and the broader plus size movement. A designer who is still trailblazing, and still designing those pieces for our memorable moments.
The Kelly Dress reminds us that we have to celebrate our heroes, and help sustain their brands. Not just for the benefit of ourselves, but for others too. Designers are only able to keep designing if we buy and wear their clothes. Restaurants only stay open if we come in and eat with them. Independent Bookstores and bars and candle shops only exist if we shop directly with them.
JIBRI’s Influence on Luxury Fashion for Plus Sizes
I began to reflect on the impact of designers in our present era, who helped to usher in a voice for Plus Size women in the realms of luxury fashion. We have to remember that the era of Body Positivity, whilst it has always been a huge part of the cultural fabric of Black culture and Black women, is relatively newer in the broader pop culture.
Normalizing curvy bodies, plus size bodies, fat bodies. Honoring our experiences. And dressing us for the special moments of our lives- be it our weddings or birthdays or family reunions or the company holiday party or our baby showers. There have been designers and brands who have catered to plus size women since their founding. But there hasn’t always been a luxury market appeal for us as plus size women.
Jasmine Elder, the founder and Creative Director of JIBRI launched her brand as an emerging designer in the 2010’s, fashioning “made to order” garments in plus sizes in luxurious silks and chiffons and jerseys with her signature silhouettes that drape all sorts of curvy bodies, beautifully.
When the brand arrived, we hadn’t quite seen such a sharp focus on silhouette, dramatic proportions or bold, vibrant colors in silks and velvets. Much of the discourse that existed for plus sizes was to wear all black because it was “slimming,” wear oversized tent style pieces because they make you look smaller. Place your handbag on your lap when you take a photo to hide the outline of our bellies.
What would it look like to see plus size women in luxury fabrics, in intentional and figure flattering designs and silhouettes?
That was and is the beauty of the imagination that birthed the JIBRI label.
To date, JIBRI has continued to dress plus size celebrities around the world for the moments that feel special, when other designers refused to dress them or accommodate them. What did you wear to the Grammys to accept your award back then? Without designers brands like JIBRI, women were relegated to what they could find that could work.
As a pioneer and a trailblazer in the body positivity movement and in luxury fashion, JIBRI also helped normalize and shift the idea of investing in our wardrobes. Even if we weren’t satisfied with our weight or our bodies in their current state, we still have to live our lives to and have events and special occasions to dress for.
We still wanted to celebrate those special moments and feel beautiful living those moments, too. Up until that time, we subconsciously avoided investing financially in our clothes, with the expectation that it wouldn’t be worth the trouble if we just mustered the “willpower” to follow a diet, or go to the gym for 20 million hours a week. I say this to say, that it’s because of the emergence of brands like JIBRI that we have so much more access and options in the luxury apparel market for plus sizes.
Today, JIBRI is still standing, at a time where so many small, independent brands are shuttering due to the advent of Amazon Fashion, Shein and Temu, and rising costs of fabric sourcing, supply chain shortages and a push for exporting production to other countries to meet the inflating costs of labor.
Perhaps an unintended attribute to the brand is the luxury of its production. Jasmine and her team still source small batches of fabrics- cashmeres, silks, velvet and more.
JIBRI’s production model is slow fashion focused, with the tailors and needle workers all based in Atlanta, Georgia and producing the garments in-house. The design team designs their prints the traditional way, as in the designs are not made by AI but rather, made by hand. The designer and her design team designs their prints the small details as well- sourcing and designing their zippers for the garments and the jewelry that the line carries- working with small scale artisans around the world to create pieces that last a lifetime.
You can support and shop the collection at JibriOnline.com
Happy Black History Month! Throughout the month, we will bring you various influencers, trailblazers and thought leaders whose work has impacted the plus size fashion space, like Patrick Kelly has!
