At Pratt Manhattan Gallery on 14th street, a celebration of Black designers and creatives rises to honor the work of generations. “Black Dress II: Homage” explores the history of American fashion, through the lens of the Black artists whose work has pioneered and defined the industry, often without recognition.

The show marks the ten year anniversary of the original “Black Dress” exhibit, created in 2014 by Adrienne Jones, a tenured professor at the Pratt Institute. Jones received a series of scrapbooks from Clara Branch, a former faculty member at the Fashion Institute of Technology, as well as Jones’s mentor. In them, she found a careful catalog of Black designers, some of whose names had since been lost to history. So was born “Black Dress,” an exhibit intended to share and preserve their legacies.

“This is a love letter to the fashion industry, particularly the Blacks in fashion… but also to Clara Branch, continuing her legacy,” says Jones. Who knew that some scrap clippings would turn into what it is today?”

The Black Dress Legacy

Today, Jones and her co-curator Rachelle Etienne-Robinson are reviving the legacy with an expanded viewpoint, curating the work not only of fashion designers, but of Black creatives whose work covers beauty, styling, and celebrity culture. There will be a part of the exhibit celebrating fashion journalism titled Black Book; for jewelry it’s Black Gold; for models, Black Face.

A number of brands from the first exhibition will return including Byron Lars, Sammy B, and Epperson. Their work will sit next to renowned designers of decades past, from CFDA Award winner Jeffrey Banks, to Haitian-born Fabrice—known for his opulence—to Patrick Kelly, a beloved designer of the 1980s. Two-time Oscar nominated costume designer Paul Tazewell (including currently for Wicked) lent costumes from The Temptations. There will also be a piece from the 2024 Olympics designed by Telfar Clemens.

Curating The Collection

Curating the collection involved not just the years of hard work put in by Jones and Etienne-Robinson, sometimes it was also about a bit of luck. The two were hunting for a specific ironing board, to be displayed as an homage to Sarah Boone, a formerly enslaved woman who had the patent for what became the modern ironing board. All set to buy the piece, a well-timed conversation suddenly found them with one in their possession, lent by a friend.

For Emmy-nominated producer Keli Goff, the current exhibition will be her first time lending a piece of clothing from her own closet. Goff, who describes her collecting as a hobby turned obsession, was put in touch with Jones and Etienne-Robinson as they were searching for a Patrick Kelly dress to include. “You’ve got to either give me a year or a color or a print or something, because I have a lot,” Goff remembers telling them.