Ensemble

Patrick Kelly often shared anecdotes from his youth about how his grandmother would cover his mended clothing with excess buttons as a decorative element to camouflage that they mismatched. This playful appreciation for improvisation was something he would go on to cultivate throughout all his work. With exuberance and joy, he regularly drew on a pastiche of autobiographical and kitsch elements that celebrated his southern American heritage, his adopted home of Paris, and his infinite number of inspirations. Kelly included a “List of Loves” as show notes the season he showed this ensemble, documenting his eclecticism through a series of items that included pretty things, fried chicken, big overalls, the couturière Madame Grès, his grandmother Ethel Rainey, Bette Davis, Martin Luther King Jr., and his target clientele of “All Women (fat, skinny and between).” This velvet jacket displays his fondness for novelty buttons with a line of flathead nails that serve as closures. In a light-hearted flourish, the ensemble was accessorized with a matching toolbox purse.