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Willi Donnell Smith (February 29, 1948 – April 17, 1987) was an American fashion designer. At the time of his death, Smith was regarded as one of the most successful African-American designers in the fashion industry. His company, WilliWear Limited, launched in 1976 and by 1986 grossed over $25 million in sales. After Smith's death, his business partner, Laurie Mallet, continued the line with various designers creating collections. Without Smith, the company floundered and due to financial problems and poor sales, WilliWear Limited ceased production in 1990. WilliWear was the first clothing company to create womenswear and menswear under the same label. The accessibility and affordability of Smith's clothing helped to democratize fashion.
From 1969 to 1973, Smith worked as lead designer for the junior sportswear label Digits. Smith met future business partner and lifelong friend Laurie Mallet in 1970 while Mallet was in New York for a holiday break and hired her as his design assistant at Digits in 1971. The following year, 1972, Smith was nominated for the Coty American Fashion Critics’ Award for his work as lead designer at Digits. In 1973, Smith was nominated for the Coty American Fashion Critics’ Winnie Award for the second time, and began designing patterns for the commercial pattern company Butterick. Smith resigned from Digits later that same year and Digits went bankrupt shortly after. In 1974, Smith partnered with his sister Toukie Smith and close friend Harrison Rivera-Terreaux to form his own label Willi Smith Designs, Inc. Unfamiliar at the time with the business aspect of running a label, the company struggled and closed a few months later.
Smith continued to design and, in 1976, traveled to Bombay (Mumbai) India with Mallet to produce a small collection of women's separates in natural fibers. The collection was a success, and soon after, Smith and Mallet formed the label WilliWear Ltd., with Mallet as President of the company and Willi Smith as Vice President and lead designer. The first Williwear fashion show was held at the Holly Solomon in the Spring of 1978 and showcased a collection of garments “influenced by nautical uniforms and Southeast Asian dress.” Subsequent WilliWear fashion shows were held in unconventional locations such as Alvin Ailey Studio and the Puck Building.
WilliWear was a massive success, providing chic, stylish clothing for the modern woman, and later men, at affordable prices and in natural fabrics. In 1982, Smith produced the first WilliWear men's collection with Stuart Lazar as Executive Vice President of menswear. Smith also hired Mark Bozek as head of communications for WilliWear that same year. After receiving his fifth Coty Award nomination, Willi Smith won the Coty American Fashion Critics’ Award in 1983.
WilliWear produced several hallmark collections from 1982 to 1986, and in 1986 the company reached $25 million in sales. Smith and Mallet further enriched the reputation of the brand through artist collaborations. After Smith's death, on April 17, 1987, Mallet continued to run WilliWear. In 1989, Mallet hired designer Andre Walker to revive the brand. Following a poorly received Fall 1990 collection and loss of sales at the Fifth Avenue store, Williwear filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and ceased production in 1990.
Smith and Mallet also collaborated with twenty-one contemporary artists in 1984 to design T-shirts with silk-screened artwork. These T-shirts displayed original work by artists including Keith Haring , Christo , SITE , Suzan Pitt , Les Levine , Edwin Schlossberg , Kim Steele , Jose Gracia Severo , Barbara Kruger , Lynn Hershman , Jenny Holzer , Todd Siler , Dan Friedman, and Andrew "Zephyr" Witten. The shirts were a part of the WilliWear Productions’ collection and video presentation Made in New York (1984). Made in New York, directed by Les Levine, was the first short film project that WilliWear commissioned to present Smith's clothes in motion on the street and to combine the disciplines of art, fashion, and film in one form. In 1985, Smith also worked with Max Vadukul to direct the short film Expedition, which was shot in Senegal and showcased ensembles inspired by Senegalese street fashion. Expedition debuted in New York at the Ziegfeld theater.
Smith showcased his designs through film in Made in New York (1984) and Expedition (1985), as well as for film in Spike Lee’s School Daze (1987), creating the homecoming court costumes. Elements of film were also included in the presentation of the Fall 1983 WilliWear collection "Street Couture", held at the Puck Building, and incorporated video art by Juan Downey, music by Jorge Socarras, and makeup by Linda Mason. The presentation of the Spring 1983 WilliWear collection "City Island", featured video art, which was created by artist Nam June Paik. Other significant WilliWear collections include the Fall 1984 collection "SUB-Urban", Spring 1985 collection "Sightseeing", the 1984 collection for WilliWear Productions’ Made in New York, and the 1985 collection for Expedition. From 1982 to 1987, WilliWear showrooms and boutiques in New York City and London were designed by the conceptual design and architecture studio SITE, led by partners Alison Sky and James Wines. For the WilliWear showroom on 209 W 38th Street in New York City, SITE partnered with Smith and Mallet to design a monochrome streetscape with a sidewalk doubling as a runway and chain-link fencing serving as display racks.
Additionally, Smith designed the suits for Edwin Schlossberg and his groomsmen when he married Caroline Kennedy, in 1986, and designed the wedding dress worn by Mary Jane Watson when she married Peter Parker in a live performance based on The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 comic in 1987. Smith also designed the uniforms for the workers on Jeanne-Claude and Christo's 1983 installation Surrounded Islands as well as for Pont Neuf Wrapped (1985) in Paris, France.
Smith, who was coming out gay, has a panel in the original NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Smith is also lamented in a poem "Speak: A Poem for the Millennium March", by Keith Boykin, read by its author for the Millennium March on Washington for Equality on April 29, 2000.
Additionally, many young designers and artists worked at WilliWear before launching their own successful careers and labels, including Antthony Mark Hankins, James Mischka, Jon Coffelt, John Bartlett, and Andre Walker, among many others. While WilliWear was very successful, the company had experienced creative, quality, and merchandising problems in the year before Smith's death. In an effort to remedy these problems, Smith's business partner Laurie Mallet hired a new staff and brought in additional designers in an effort to appeal to a more sophisticated demographic. After Smith's death, Mallet vowed to continue the line. In late 1987 and 1988, she opened WilliWear stores in Paris and New York City (a London location was opened before Smith's death which proved to be very successful). However, Mallet struggled to maintain the success the line had when Smith was alive. By 1989, sales had decreased. In November 1989, Mallet hired then up and coming designer Andre Young to design the line's Fall 1990 collection.
Upon its debut in April, the line was panned by critics. To save money, Mallet closed the WilliWear stores and tried to generate revenue by convincing chain stores to carry the line. Mallet's efforts failed and, in 1990, the women's division of WilliWear ceased production. Shortly thereafter, the men's division also ceased production. (2026). 9780313386466, ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313386466
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum hosted the first retrospective exhibition on Willi Smith from March 13, 2020. The show was scheduled to end on October 25, 2020. The exhibition was curated by Alexandra Cunningham Cameron, Curator of Contemporary Design, and Hintz Secretarial Scholar at Cooper Hewitt with Curatorial Assistants Julie Pastor and Darnell Jamal Lisby. The collaborative and accessible nature of Willi Smith's work was highlighted through the exhibition and will be incorporated to a greater extent through the Willi Smith Digital Community Archive, which the public can contribute to. The archive serves as a resource for scholars and enthusiasts to gain greater insight and understanding into the life, work, and legacy of the visionary American designer. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the exhibit was closed at the end of its opening day.
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