“Where in the world is Mary McFadden?”
That would be a fair question on any given day in any given year for the past 70 years or so for Mary McFadden. But the inveterate traveler and New York-grown fashion designer and artist is putting down roots by establishing the Mary McFadden Archive at Drexel University.
Prior to the opening reception for the exhibition, “Modern Ritual, The Art of Mary McFadden,” on the Philadelphia campus, the 95-year-old spoke with WWD about her career, her 11 marriages and why she still believes in love. The show spotlights her hand-painted textiles, opulent beading, bejeweled embellishment and signature Marii pleating.
WWD: So many institutions must have wanted your archives. What made you decide on Drexel?
Mary McFadden: Yes, but Philadelphia is closest to my heart. My family comes from Philadelphia. They were in the cotton business. I was too young to remember. Also, the center of the cotton business then was in Memphis, Tenn. We were living there on a cotton plantation.
WWD: How did that influence your decision to go into fashion and design?
M.M.: It didn’t influence it at all. When you live on a cotton plantation, you’re pretty remote. I think I just grew into an interest in art, travel and fashion through my family’s lore and traces.
WWD: Was that through studying at Columbia University or La Sorbonne?
M.M.: Going to Europe [to study at the Sorbonne] at 17 or 18 helped a lot. It was so impressionable.
WWD: That seems exotic for someone your age in the early 1950s.
M.M:. I had a few friends, who were, of course, older than I was, who were doing the same thing.
WWD: As someone who attended Columbia University, what do you make of what is happening now on campus with the student protests?
M.M.: I am so involved with that. I mean watching it carefully every day. I never had a situation like that when I was there. I hope it is resolved as soon as possible.
WWD: What made you go into fashion?
M.M.: That was inevitable; since I was born, I was always interested in how I dressed and the construction of things. [McFadden also studied at Ecole Lubec, The New School for Social Research and the Traphagen School of Fashion.]
WWD: How many garments have you saved over the years and what are a few of your favorites?
M.M.: About 100 — all of them. You will see them and tell me which ones you like.
WWD: Did you enjoy working in public relations for Dior in New York in the 1960s?
M.M.: Of course; I met the heads of Dior at a cocktail party, and I told them I would like to come for an interview the next day. And they accepted me. The whole time was very favorable.
WWD: Are you surprised that Dior is so omnipresent today and how it is so much a part of the culture today in that many people aspire to buy it?
M.M.: It wasn’t part of the culture at my time. It was very reserved. It’s better that it’s aspired to.
WWD: What was your experience of being in South Africa when your first husband Philip Harari worked for De Beers and later living there [in 1968 following their divorce]?
M.M.: De Beers was just starting in South Africa so you can imagine how simple everything was there — the mines, the life. I was there for five years and my job at South African Vogue was arranged by Diana Vreeland. She was a family friend to me, always helping me.
WWD: When you started your company in 1976, did you know it would be a success?
M.M.: At that time, no one knew anything would be a success. The backing of Diana Vreeland gave me the confidence to do it. She was just encouraging.
WWD: What do you like about your early designs?
M.M.: I think they are all terrible. They weren’t very good. That’s my feeling. They got better. They were bad adaptations, bad colorations, bad combinations. Everything was horrible.
WWD: It must have sold fairly well if you kept going.
M.M.: Well, I also was an editor at all of these different magazines [at different times] so I could put them in all the magazines.
WWD: Do you think that was fair or enterprising?
M.M.: I think that was fair, because I had the best stuff in the market.
WWD: What helped you become more agile or precise in your design work?
M.M.: I don’t know if the designs include that much. They started off that way.
WWD: But there is such an elegance to your work. Is that the influence of art, or years of practice?
M.M.: Competition.
WWD: Who were your chief rivals?
M.M.: I don’t have any rivals. I didn’t have any competitors at that time. The competition was to stay in business, to be profitable and to be successful.
WWD: What’s the trick to succeeding in fashion design?
M.M.: Having a good dress that people want to buy.
WWD: Do you have one favorite?
M.M.: I wear everything in sight in my closet.
WWD: Did you enjoy being in charge of the CFDA in the early 1980s and being involved with it today?
M.M.: Of course.
WWD: But it must have been tricky, because there were so many strong-willed personalities, no?
M.M.: I never noticed that.
WWD: What makes you hopeful about fashion design today?
M.M.: It’s inevitable.
WWD: What do you think your greatest accomplishment is so far?
M.M.: I don’t know what it could be.
WWD: How would you summarize how people are dressing on the streets today?
M.M.: It’s up and down. Some people look great, and others don’t.
WWD: What’s making people shop or spend?
M.M.: Vanity. That’s always the case.
WWD: Where are you traveling to next?
M.M.: My next trip is going to be to Mexico City. I try to see the world. Hopefully, I will see the art and everything in Mexico City. Of course, I have been before.
WWD: Some travelers are concerned about safety there. Are you?
M.M.: I hadn’t thought about it.
WWD: Have you been to more than 60 countries?
M.M.: Of course. My family [members] were all travelers and I inherited the gene from them. They were famous explorers. My great-uncle Charles Suydam Cutting was the first [Western] man into Tibet [in 1935-37]. That seemed otherworldly — no one had ever been to Tibet. [Some of the remnants from his expeditions can be found at the American Museum of Natural History and the New York Botanical Garden.]
WWD: How do you stay so vibrant and keep your health up?
M.M.: Well, I was born that way. I haven’t had any problems yet.
WWD: Are you meticulous about diet, sleep or walking?
M.M.: No, no.
WWD: What is your greatest indulgence?
M.M.: I would guess going to parties. I enjoy cocktail parties, dinner parties, all parties. It’s the conversation, the fashion, the ambience — everything.
WWD: What do you hope people will think of when they hear your name?
M.M.: They will think of my dresses of course. And that I am a good tennis player. And I am.
WWD: What would you like to do that you haven’t had the time to do?
M.M.: I’ve done pretty much everything that I want to do.
WWD: What’s your view on marriage?
M.M.: It’s a very dicey operation.
WWD: Are you glad that you married 11 times?
M.M.: Of course. Each person was a different experience.
WWD: Is there one that you would single out as your greatest love?
M.M.: Several.
WWD: Is there anyone you would like to name?
M.M.: No.
WWD: Are you in love now?
M.M.: Distantly, they just are not living here in New York at the moment.
WWD: Are you open to a twelfth marriage?
M.M.: Surely.
WWD: Are you happy when you are in New York?
M.M:. I love New York. The shine never wears off the city — the robustness. It is always there for me. I love the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I think the Met Gala is great — anything that you can do to get people in to see the museum.
WWD: Are you still doing your own art?
M.M.: I’m not painting any longer. I don’t miss it all. I don’t regret doing it.
WWD: What do you do that you find most enjoyable or entertaining?
M.M.: I like playing tennis both indoors and outdoors.
WWD: What is your strong suit — serve, forehand, backhand?
M.M.: I would say my strong suit is my entire game. I prefer to play singles. Of course, I play with Stan Herman. He’s a nice guy.
WWD: Did you design your own outfit or do you wear a brand?
M.M.: I have my Marii pleated costumes, Fortuny-esque pleats that require a six-step heat treatment that she created in 1975.
WWD: What do people not understand about you or that you wish they knew?
M.M.: I have no problems about that.
