Dress for Success: Keli Goff on Collecting Vintage Clothing
“I didn’t know I was a collector,” says the writer and producer Keli Goff, “until I started speaking with curators about what I have.” What she has is a collection of vintage clothing that comprises nearly 150 pieces by Black designers like Patrick Kelly, Stephen Burrows, and Ann Lowe (seen above). It all began with a fondness for the fashions from old movies and a recent college graduate’s budget, but it has grown into a formidable assembly. Exhibitions, including one on view now at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, borrow from Goff’s collection, and she’s currently at work on a documentary inspired by her acquisitions.
“What I’ve learned,” she says, “is that talking about this collection and these designers helps to keep their legacy alive.” Even if it also makes acquiring their pieces more difficult. Take the work of the late American designer Isaia Rankin, which Goff first encountered while searching eBay. “I felt like I was saving it from the dustbin,” she says. “But in recent years people have recognized his importance. It would never happen today—that I could go online and get one of his pieces for $40. The world has changed.”
This story appears in the February 2025 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW
You Might Also Like
