Patrick Kelly was born in Mississippi, at Vicksburg, and it was through his mother's and grandmother's magazines that he discovered fashion. Settled in Paris, he was the first American that French haute couture ever elected to its governing body, and the first Black designer to sit there. His work was cheerful and political at once: it turned the racist imagery of the South he came from on its head. He died at thirty-five.
The story
“Nothing is impossible.” The line could be a platitude; it is not one for Patrick Kelly, born Black at Vicksburg, in Mississippi, on 24 September 1954.
It was in the magazines his mother and his grandmother showed him that Patrick Kelly discovered fashion. He settled in Paris, founded his house there, and in 1988, sponsored by Sonia Rykiel, became the first American — and the first Black designer — admitted to the Chambre syndicale du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode, the ready-to-wear body of French fashion.
His fashion was joyful and political at once: it took up the racist imagery of the South he came from and turned it around. He died in Paris in 1990, at thirty-five.
He is buried in Paris, in Division 50, more than seven thousand kilometres from Vicksburg. The inscription runs to two lines: his name, then the motto, in English, which no one translated on the stone.
The grave
An inscription of two lines, the second of which is a motto: “Patrick Kelly. Nothing is impossible.” The phrase could be a platitude; it is not, for a man born Black in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1954, who became the first American elected to the Chambre syndicale of French haute couture. He died in Paris at thirty-five.
On site, do not miss
Two lines, one of them a motto in English: “Patrick Kelly. Nothing is impossible.”
Visitors' questions
Where is Patrick Kelly's grave?
In Division 50, avenue Saint-Morys, eighth row. The inscription runs to two lines: his name, then a motto in English — “Nothing is impossible”. He died in Paris in 1990, at thirty-five.
Victor Schœlcher, Division 50Why does he matter as a designer?
Because in 1988 he became the first American admitted to the Chambre syndicale du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode — the body that decides who counts in Paris fashion. He had come up from Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Ted LapidusHow did he find his way to fashion?
Through his mother and his grandmother, who showed him fashion magazines in the Mississippi of his childhood. He would move to Paris later, and set up his own house there.
Marie-Louise CarvenWhat does his epitaph mean?
“Nothing is impossible”. For a Black man born in Vicksburg in 1954 who became the first American admitted among the designers of Paris fashion, the words are not a platitude.
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