Mary McFadden[1] (born October 1, 1938)[citation needed] is an American art collector, editor, fashion designer, and writer.[2][3]
McFadden was born in New York City, and spent her childhood on a cotton plantation outside Memphis, Tennessee.[4] When her father died, the family moved to Westbury, New York, and she was sent to the Foxcroft School from which she graduated.[5] She went on to attend Columbia University, the Ecole Lubec, the New School for Social Research, the Sorbonne, and the Traphagen School of Fashion (1956, Costume Design).[2][6][7]
She has lived on Park Avenue in Manhattan.[5][when?]
She was working as the director of public relations for Dior New York in the 1960s, when she married a merchant for De Beers diamonds (Philip Harari, who she later divorced; see Personal life section below) and relocated to South Africa.[8][9] From 1968 to 1970 she was an editor for South African Vogue, a job arranged for her by Diana Vreeland.[2]
In 1976 she began the clothing company Mary McFadden Inc.[10]
From 1982 to 1983 she was the President of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.[11]
In 2012 she and her companion Murray Gell-Mann published the book Mary McFadden: A Lifetime of Design, Collecting, and Adventure.[3]
She has also licensed her name to many products such as eyewear, footwear, home furnishings, and sleepwear.[9]
McFadden has claimed to be married at least eleven times, but declared that some of these marriages were "only spiritual".[9]
McFadden is known to have been married to, in chronological order:
McFadden has a daughter, Justine Harari, from her marriage to Philip Harari.[8][6]
| International |
|
|---|---|
| National |
|
| Artists |
|
| Other |
|
