Willi Smith
| Willi Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Willi Donnell Smith February 29, 1948 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,, U.S. |
| Died | April 17, 1987 (aged 39) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Cause of death | AIDS-related pneumonia complicated by shigella |
| Nationality | American |
| Education |
Mastbaum Technical High School University of the Arts Parsons The New School for Design |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
| Relatives | Toukie Smith (sister) |
| Labels | WilliWear Limited |
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 would go on to sell $25 million worth of clothing a year. After Smith's death, his business partner continued the line with various designers creating collections. Without Smith, the company floundered. Due to financial problems and poor sales, WilliWear Limited ceased production in 1990.
Smith was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and studied commercial art at Mastbaum Technical High School and attended Philadelphia College of Art for fashion illustration. He then moved to New York City to go to Parsons The New School for Design, the art and design college of The New School.
In 1967, Smith quit Parsons to pursue a career designing on his own. In 1969, he designed a label for Digits, a sportswear company. In 1973, Smith, along with his sister Toukie Smith, founded their own clothing company that soon failed. Smith continued to design and in 1976, he went into business with Laurie Mallet and called the company "WilliWear Limited."
He designed the wedding dress worn by Mary Jane Watson when she married Peter Parker in the Spider-Man comic book and comic strip in 1987, and the suits for Edwin Schlossberg and his groomsmen when he married Caroline Kennedy in 1986. Smith also designed the uniforms for the workers on Christo's 1985 wrapping of the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris and clothes for Spike Lee's film School Daze (1987).
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