Mary McFadden, who died at the age of 85 in Southampton, was a designer, collector, a world traveler, and a renaissance woman.

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CFDA: She culled inspiration for her distinctive apparel designs from the art of China, Africa, Greece, and South America as well as cultures she encountered during her travels, using, for example, African and Asian prints for intricately quilted jackets, and “Marii” pleating she enhanced by beaded cuffs and collars, jewel encrusted trim and panels, as well as gold “zardozi” embroidery.

McFadden created an aesthetic that was uniquely hers; her own look became as much a signature to the brand as the clothes she created.

McFadden received a Coty Award in 1976; she entered the Coty Hall of Fame in 1979, the same year she received the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award.

In 1982, she became the first female president of the CFDA, presiding  over a then still intimate CFDA with meetings at her studio at 240 West 35^th Street. McFadden implemented concrete processes and marketing plans.

“I brought my organization into the fold, and from then on we started to develop ideas of how we should promote ourselves,” McFadden told the CFDA in 2023.

McFadden showed her collections on runways in New York, London, Russia, India, South and Central America, and Tokyo. Her work were also  exhibited at the Allentown Museum, The Dixon Museum, The Women’s Museum, and More College of Art, Philadelphia.

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She was a true American fashion original and will be missed. Rest in peace, dear Mary.