#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]

[flygrldiaries]

Diana Ross in Mahogany (1975) Dir. Berry Gordy

[silkelectricss]

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

[vlogsquadtrash]

Black // Jack Johnson

[lobbycards]

Mahogany, Spanish lobby card. 1975

[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.

[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

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

diana ross, mahogany |1975|

[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)