MOODBOARD: PAT CLEVELAND x HALSTON

Rarely has a collaboration between a model and designer been so profound.

In the canon of fashion history, there have been a handful of model-designer collaborations that truly stand apart. What exactly makes these pairings so electric is as mysterious as human connection itself. Yet the creative volley they foster can have very tangible, industry-defining ramifications. All are worthy of exploration but this installment of Moodboard will focus squarely on one of my very favorites – Pat Cleveland and Halston.

Cleveland was raised by her artist mother in Harlem surrounded by a community of creatives that instilled in her a love of painting, photography, dance and poetry. Originally a design student at Manhattan’s High School of Art and Design, Cleveland was spotted in the subway by an assistant of Vogue editor Carrie Donovan who extended an invitation to visit the magazine’s offices. An offer from Ebony to appear in its traveling fashion shows a short time later launched her career as a model and within a few years, she was one of fashion’s defining faces. A Black woman during a period of blatant racism within the industry (Eileen Ford declined to represent her based on her color), she was a muse to Karl Lagerfeld at Chloe, was a favorite subject of Richard Avedon and Irving Penn, and was nurtured by Antonio Lopez. But it is her relationship with Halston that remains singular.

Halston is an all-time great, a genius who reduced couture elements to their most minimal and gave clothes a deeply American ease. One of his earliest moves was creating a cabine of models in the couture tradition that reflected the modern design ethos he cultivated. Cleveland was an essential player in that svelte troupe. She represented a woman on the move, one whose brand of glamour was as natural and effortless as it was larger than life. Cleveland was the ideal embodiment of Halston’s work and intuitive enough to understand how to move in a given design. She was shatteringly serene in his supple silk dresses, spirited in his tailored, office-ready suits, and effervescent in rippling gowns that begged to be twirled.

What’s true of both Pat Cleveland and Halston is this: They just don’t make them like that anymore.

Spring 1977 Made-to-Order Collection.

Spring 1978 Ready-to-Wear Collecion.

Fall 1973 Ready-to-Wear Collection.

Spring 1978 Ready-to-Wear Collection.

Spring 1976 Read-to-Wear Collection.

Fall 1977 Ready-to-Wear Collection.

Fall 1972 Ready-to-Wear Collection.

Fall 1977 Ready-to-Wear Collection.

Spring 1977 Made-to-Order Collection.

Fall 1976 Made-to-Order Collection.