The High-flying Life of the Late Fashion Designer Mary McFadden to Be Celebrated

The inimitable life of the late fashion designer, artist and world traveler Mary McFadden will be celebrated on Nov. 5.

The American talent died at the age of 83 on Sept. 13 at her home in Southampton, N.Y. With a career that folded into seven decades like the Mari pleating that she designed, McFadden lived with candor and elan. She also measured up to the title of the 2003 book “Mary McFadden: High Priestess of High Fashion.”

Mining inspiration from long past centuries and civilizations, she created collections that drew from Asian, African, Middle Eastern and ancient Greek cultures. Endlessly inquisitive, McFadden traveled to more than 60 countries and wed 11 times.

Approximately 150 people are expected at next month’s tribute, which will be held at the event space 583 Park Avenue in New York City, according to the designer’s friend and former president of McFadden’s company Joan Olden. For the convenience of guests, the gathering will take place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. with family members slated to share memories at 3:30 p.m., as well as anyone from the audience, who would like to do so. One of McFadden’s ex-husbands Kohle Yohannan plans to speak.

Twenty mannequins showcasing McFadden’s ensembles will be displayed along the perimeter of the balcony of the century-old Delano & Aldrich-designed landmark building. In addition, recorded interviews of McFadden such as one with the historian and producer Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel from 1984 will be projected on video screens. An assortment of pieces from McFadden’s various collections and some of her possessions will be available to purchase at the event. The funds will benefit the Mary McFadden Fund at Drexel University, where the retrospective exhibition “Modern Ritual: The Art of Mary McFadden” just closed.

Throughout her life, the designer was disciplined and persevered. After attending what she described as “a proper ladies’ military high school called Foxcroft in Virginia,” McFadden exercised her athletic skills unlike many — climbing the high route from the Matterhorn to Chamonix with seven male dentists and two guides. After an unexpected two-day snow-in, McFadden ascended with crampons the icy face of 13,000-foot Pigne d’Arolla.

The image of McFadden and a line of models stopping traffic on Seventh Avenue to a police officer’s surprise that was used for the invitation to the Nov. 5 celebration is appropriate since much of her professional life orbited around Seventh Avenue. Before getting into the industry, McFadden enrolled at the Traphagen School of Design on Seventh Avenue. (Fittingly, her first class was “The 1,000 Stitches of the World,” but two months later she dropped out and started working.) The photo of McFadden and seven models — all of whom are wearing her eveningwear designs — was taken as they were en route to somewhere in the 1980s, according to Olden.

“Isn’t that iconic?” Olden asked. The same might be true of McFadden.