A SALUTE TO FASHION DESIGNER PATRICK KELLY

Karl Lagerfeld's not the only who has had Inès de la Fressange walk the runway. Here she wears Patrick Kelly's red, pearl embroidered dress circa 1988.

Toukie Smith was curvaceous and yet she still graced Patrick's Runways... and so did others.

The Collections

"I can't say I wouldn't have made it in New York because I didn't stay to find out."

  ~Patrick Kelly

In the 1980s an American fashion designer from Vicksburg, Mississippi by the name of Patrick Kelly took Paris by storm, becoming the first American member of the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter (the governing body of the prestigious French ready-to-wear industry).

"Super Model" Coco Mitchel Wearing Patrick Kelly

Embellishments, embellishments, embellishments...Kelly remembered much of his Southern upbringing and paid homage to it with many of his designs, which featured large buttons, some completely embroidered in buttons and pearls...but his creative spirit did not stop there.

...He also decorated his dresses with colorful bows, embroidered lips and hearts, and even in one collection he paid a tribute to his African roots by doing an entire collection in Kente cloth. Some wanted to say it was Betty Davis who put him on the map, not so because he had a legion of other well known women who were also fans of his clothes. The America media has been twisting stories for decades which goes to show that this is nothing new.

His clothes were sexy and glamorous and of course without controversy because to some people his logo supposedly reminded them of negative images of Little Black Sambo. Sadly, Patrick Kelly died in 1990 at the height of his career.

Photos: From my own personal collections

of magazines scanned by moi. Those of Toukie Smith,

Patrick Kelly and Ines de la Fressange are from CORBIS.

THE WAY WE WORE: GRACE JONES For André Courrèges

The Fantabulous Grace Jones for André Courrèges circa 1974.

ON THE RADAR:Franck Sorbier SS 2011 Haute Couture

Five Looks From Franck Sorbier 2011 SS Haute Couture

Hottest, Newest, Latest: Azzedine Alaïa's Homage To Africa

Azzedine Alaïa has something for us Afrolista's who have a serious love affair with shoes, that's right ...we love our shoes! But this time he's paying homage to Africa, and yes he is an African... Tunisian to be exact! We've been letting society divide up the continent with this Sub-Saharan mess for far too long, and Africans are Africans regardless of what part of the continent we originate from!

Now, let's get back to the fabulous shoes that he has designed with cowrie shells, raffia and other natural embellishments that will have us "shoeaholics" drooling for days. So many designers have offered up their versions of the "exotic and ethnic," but  this master can truly say his shoes are authentic to the core in their design aesthetic. Check them out below and decide which ones you love!

How about these perfect flats with a long flowing, voluminous sheath or sundress?

What women wouldn't want to rock these bada@#$... wedges?

Or these with a fierce African print or Western designed garment?

Or these with the perfect "nuevo style" Little Black Dress?

The Head Wrap Is Not A Trend!

While perusing the web this morning I spent a little time of NY Magazines website "The Cut" and they were talking about some of the details and looks from designer Jean Paul Gaultier's recently held 2010Fall/Winter collection. While looking through most of the collection I came across the looks below:

"Models Wearing Head Wraps From Gaultier's 2010 Fall/Winter Collection"

Seeing these head wraps kind of annoyed  me at first because there are a lot of us who are afraid to accept our own standards of beauty and once the mainstream gives it the go ahead it's then okay to wear them. Maybe he was paying his own homage to African culture and if he was I definitely appreciate it.

"There is Nothing Like A Beautiful Head Wrap"

Well...I still wear mine regardless and so do a lot of other women. I wear mine all year long depending on the outfit and those head wraps are made out of some of the best Senegalese fabric on the planet, which kept may head warm through many German Winters. See, ladies what some of you think is not fashionable to show your cultural pride others admire it too... they just won't tell you that they admire our beauty.

I'm kind of tired of hearing the words exotic, primal, animal, jungle, safari, nomadic, tribal, primitive and third world when describing African, Indian and Asian fashion influences. There's nothing primitive about any of our cultures so the word to best describe these aesthetics is the word beautiful. There's nothing exotic about any of us other than we don't look like them- have our own beliefs of beauty and style... we may be different physically but we also belong to humanity.

Thou shall love thy head wrap...