Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1970

  • Work on this object began.

1980

  • Work on this object ended.

2020

2025

  • You found it!

Skirt, ca. 1975

This is a Skirt. It was designed by Willi Smith and made for Ailey II, New York, New York, founded 1974.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Dianne McIntyre as part of Willi Smith: Street Couture.

It is dated ca. 1975. Its medium is synthetic fibers. It is a part of the department.


Gwendolyn Nelson-Fleming, the singer in Sounds in Motion, cared for Smith’s costumes while the company toured. She would find a laundromat at the tour stop and wash them after each show, air-drying and ironing each costume with starch to create a fresh and crisp Southern look.

It is credited Courtesy of Dianne McIntyre.

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Willi Smith: Street Couture.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318802428/ |title=Skirt, ca. 1975 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=6 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>