No One Walks the Walk Like Pat Cleveland
Considered one of the biggest faces in fashion through the late '60s and '70, look back at some of the "dancing queen's" best runway moments of all time.
From living with Karl Lagerfeld to being a muse to Salvador Dalí to modeling in the historic fashion Battle of Versailles, the supermodel “dancing queen” Pat Cleveland is ingrained in the fabric of 20th-century fashion history. After being discovered at 16 years old on her subway route to school by a Vogue assistant, Cleveland immediately made an impact due to her impressive style. While she initially wanted to be a fashion designer, she decided to instead give modeling a try. Less than two years later, Cleveland was signed at Wilhelmina, beginning her decade-spanning career.
While walking for high fashion brands such as Valentino, Oscar de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent, and Dior, is an impressive feat, Cleveland surpassed the bounds of simply being a high fashion model, and instead went on to become a modern reincarnation of a muse. After being photographed by the likes of Irving Penn and Andy Warhol and acting as a house model for Karl Lagerfeld during his time at Chloé, the young model became a source of inspiration for artist Salvador Dalí. She was also initiated into Halston's inner circle, epitomizing the disco style of the 1970s. However, despite being at the height of her career, due to the racism in the United States in the early '70s, she was continuously passed over in favor of caucasian models.
Growing up as a Black woman frequently visiting the South, Cleveland recalled in her memoir, Walking With the Muses that she would have run-ins with the Ku Klux Klan, have rocks thrown at her, and be attacked when trying to use the bathroom. "[It] was a very horrible experience,” Cleveland wrote, “horrible in contrast to all the beauty we were trying to bring to the world.” This systemic racism further extended to her life in fashion where, at 18 years old, Cleveland was told by the co-founder of Ford Models, Eileen Ford, that she would never make it in the modeling business due to her race and that “there is no work for colored girls.”
She also recalled that while staying in Lagerfeld's home in Paris, the designer taught her how to be “European and royal,” while Cleveland and her counterparts taught him how to be “free and American.” It was while in France that Cleveland famously vowed that she would not return to the United States until a Black model appeared on a Vogue cover (which did happen a few years later with Beverly Johnson). As one of the first African-American supermodels, she never shied away from challenging the inequality within the fashion industry, a mission that earned her the reputation as the “Josephine Baker of the international runways.”
Years later, Cleveland returned to the runway alongside her daughter, Anna Cleveland, for Chanel's Fall/Winter 2003 show. Since then, she's made the occasional runway appearance, reminding that supers are always, well, super. On the icon’s 71st birthday, celebrate the reigning “dancing queen” of the catwalk’s best runway moments.
