#Mahogany Gordy

[lobbycards]

Mahogany, Spanish lobby card. 1975

[thechanelmuse]

The Fashion Designs of Diana Ross

From casual to high fashion, Diana Ross created 50 outfits as the costume designer for Berry Gordy's 1975-directed film, Mahogany, where Diana also portrays the lead character, Tracy Chambers, an aspiring fashion designer from Chicago who finds success as a supermodel.

In a 1976 interview, Diana stated:

"I begged to design the clothes [in Mahogany] because in high school I majored in fashion design and costume illustration. I had a pretty good background in that. That’s what I thought I wanted to be. Singing was fun for me. I enjoy doing it. Then when the movie came along, I said: ‘That would be great research for me to do the movie. I could spend time finding exactly what a designer has to go through to make a collection.’"

After convincing Berry, Diana went on to commit 8 months to researching and completing those 50 designs. For the looks in the Asian-inspired fashion show at the end of the film, Diana was inspired by little paper kites she saw in a shop in Los Angeles.

Here's more of her costume illustrations, which she included in her 1977 concert program, An Evening With Diana:

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

diana ross, mahogany |1975|

[petersonreviews]

[silkelectricss]

Diana Ross as Tracy Chambers in Mahogany directed by Berry Gordy 1975

[kickmag]

Throwback: Motown

On January 12, 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. founded Tamla Records in Detroit, Michigan. Gordy had previously owned a music store that exclusively sold jazz records and was a member of a songwriting team for singer Jackie Wilson and others. A meeting with a 17-year-old Smokey Robinson led to Gordy recording the single "Got A Job" by Robinson's group, The Miracles. He leased the song to End Records, and this practice of leasing songs to bigger labels outside of Detroit continued with the Marv Johnson song, "Come To Me." Robinson encouraged Gordy to start his own R&B record label, and he borrowed $800 from his family to release Johnson's song on his Tamla label. In 1959, he started Anna Records, which was named after his sister, and they had the most success with Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)." In April of 1960, he merged both companies and incorporated Motown Records.

Strong's single was Motown's first hit record in June of 1960, and by that time, Gordy had purchased the building that was the label's headquarters and called it Hitsville U.S.A. Motown eventually took up space in seven additional nearby houses for the company's administrative duties, artist development, management, payroll, sales, and recording. The Miracles' "Bad Girl" was the first official Motown release, but it was their single "Shop Around" that was the first million-seller for the group and label. Gordy's motto was to make music that appealed to both Black and white audiences. Motown became the most successful African-American business and independent record company in America, with 79 songs in the Billboard Top Ten between 1960 and 1969. Motown's influence was critical to the integration of pop music. The label was home to some of the most important artists in the history of music, including The Miracles, Mary Wells, The Temptations, The Supremes, The Jackson 5, and Stevie Wonder. The company also moved into the media world after moving to Los Angeles with television specials and movies. Diana Ross' starring roles in Mahogany, Lady Sings The Blues, and The Wiz opened the way for Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard decades later. 

Motown stayed independent until 1988 when Gordy sold it to MCA. Universal Music acquired Motown in 1998 when they purchased Polygram. In 2025, Motown is home to Brandy, Erykah Badu, Kem, Migos, Lil Yachty, and The City Girls. 

[lobbycards]

Mahogany, Spanish lobby card. 1975

[vlogsquadtrash]

Black // Jack Johnson

[theoscarsproject]

Mahogany (1975).Tracy, an aspiring designer from the slums of Chicago puts herself through fashion school in the hopes of becoming one of the world's top designers. Her ambition leads her to Rome spurring a choice between the man she loves or her newfound success.

This movie oozes melodrama in every possible way, but man, if it isn’t fun. Billy Dee Williams and Diana Ross have a really warm on-screen chemistry, and their scenes together are frequently the highlight of the movie. The story itself is always loud, but somehow it works. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, haha. 7/10.

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

diana ross, mahogany |1975|

[cristalconnors]

69. Mahogany (Berry Gordy, 1975)

Delightfully inexplicable. It is as entertaining to watch Diana Ross so gamely lean into her characters’ often baffling behavior with mischievous glee as it is to watch Anthony Perkins fail so thoroughly at performing masculinity. A mess, and thank God for it.

Rating: 7.3/10

[serafino-finasero]

Diana Ross in a still from the romantic drama film Mahogany (USA, 1975, dir. Berry Gordy) | Motown Productions / Paramount Pictures

[mahoganyskyy]

Yesterday on the #WendyWilliams Show #Mahoganylox #Models for #CarolsDaughter #HairBeauty #Mahogany #MCG #Gordy https://www.instagram.com/p/BV5SxyMA3Ai/?igshid=1jkknurp8f804

[tcm]

Anthony Perkins and Diana Ross in Berry Gordy's MAHOGANY ('75)