Black Fashion History, in a TV Writer’s Closet

“Isn’t it fabulous?!” 

It’s an unseasonably warm fall afternoon in New York City, and Keli Goff is walking THR through the pieces in her “cl-office,” a unit in her Manhattan apartment building that she has fashioned into a combined closet and office. An accomplished journalist and screenwriter, Goff has outfitted it with standard office necessities. But the rest of the space is brimming with her extensive vintage clothing collection — namely, more than 100 pieces by Black American designers. The “fabulous” one Goff is telling us about is a breezy leopard-print jumpsuit by Patrick Kelly. Known for bold, colorful designs worn by such muses as Pat Cleveland and Grace Jones, the designer, who died in 1990 at age 35, worked in Atlanta and New York before moving to Paris in 1980, becoming the first American designer admitted to the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter, the governing body of the French ready-to-wear industry. “[I] think it’s a pair of men’s PJs,” she says, explaining that Kelly never designed pajamas for his collections, so she’s fairly certain that the piece is a one-off he made for himself. “I wear them and I love them.”

Another section of the collection is “all Stephen,” she says, referencing designer Stephen Burrows. His slinky, lettuce-hem dresses were a hallmark of disco-era fashion, and he was the sole Black designer to present at the famed Battle of Versailles in 1973. “I interviewed Stephen about a decade ago when I wrote a piece about [pioneering Black model] Donyale Luna,” Goff says. The two reconnected earlier this year at an event commemorating the Battle of Versailles’ 50th anniversary.

For Goff, who counts And Just Like That and Mayor of Kingstown among her writing credits, amassing a treasure trove of vintage was born from her once-minuscule clothing budget. “When I first started collecting, I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing,” she says. “I moved to New York, I was getting invited to fancy events, and I had no money.” As such, Goff only shopped at the since-shuttered discount department store Loehmann’s or at flea markets. During those early-aughts years, it wasn’t uncommon for people to fawn over Goff’s party looks, only to learn that she was draped in a $20 vintage dress plucked from her neighborhood flea. Then, in 2015, Goff penned a Daily Beast article on Black designers, past and present. “That really sparked my interest in historically significant Black designers,” she says, “from Patrick Kelly to Willi Smith to Stephen Burrows.” Later, Goff spotted a piece on eBay by leading ’70s and ’80s contemporary designer Isaia Rankin. The listing described Rankin as someone who “used to be somebody.”

“It just upset me,” she says. “Isaia Rankin basically invented athleisure.” Goff purchased the piece and soon “got more aggressive” about acquiring vintage by Black designers. That their work was being discarded, she felt, was an affront to their legacies, especially given that so many of those careers were cut short during the AIDS epidemic; Kelly, Smith and Rankin all died from complications related to the disease during the late ’80s and early ’90s.

Sift through the pieces in Goff’s cl-office and you’ll discover a wool coat that Kelly once gifted to Gloria Steinem; a champagne-hued dress by Zelda Wynn Valdes, who famously designed the Playboy Bunny suit; and a gown by Ann Lowe, the designer of Jacqueline Bouvier’s wedding dress for her marriage to John F. Kennedy. (Work by Lowe is included in the new exhibit Women Dressing Women at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on view through March 3).

Though Goff wears the pieces to high-profile events — “It gives [designers] the credit that they didn’t always get but that they deserve,” she says — she’s not just collecting them for her wardrobe. “I’ll be donating [over time] all my pieces by Black designers to major institutions,” Goff says, naming Elizabeth Way, associate curator at The Museum at FIT, as one of the people who encouraged the decision. Notes Way: “Keli’s so meticulous about building a collection of amazing Black designers who aren’t very well represented in a lot of museums.” 

Though Goff initially felt she lacked the expertise to identify museum-worthy pieces and liaise with institutions to exhibit them, “people like Liz [have] really given me the confidence to understand the importance of sharing the collection with the world,” says Goff, who is developing a documentary about Black designers.

Goff, a THR contributor, spoke with the magazine about her fascination with vintage, how she became interested in fashion and her plans for the collection.

What do you look for when adding to your collection? 

This is atypical, and curators don’t always love hearing it, but I actually wear my pieces, so it has to fit and it has to be something I want to wear.

Tell us about a standout piece you’ve found. 

I own one of the only Patrick Kelly floor-length button gowns. When it came on the market, it was out of my price range, but I told [the seller], “I’m a collector, I promise I’ll never flip it,” and they said, “What can you afford to pay?” I’ve had that happen a few times, where people have really been supportive of what I want to do with the garments because I’m never selling them.

How did you acquire your Ann Lowe gown? 

I treasure-hunted for years. Her name wasn’t in most [of her] dresses, but I knew the places she designed for; one was Adam’s Room at Saks Fifth Avenue. I kept googling, and I got an alert that [the gown] was up for auction. I watched it for days, and I got it.

Do you own a piece that’s especially sentimental? 

Elizabeth Keckley was a slave who bought her freedom by sewing dresses. She made all of first lady Mary Todd Lincoln’s dresses, and she also made dresses for [Varina Howell Davis], the first lady of the Confederacy. She wrote the first White House tell-all, which led to a huge falling-out with the Lincoln family. One came up for auction right when the writers strike started. Even though I was supposed to be tightening my belt, it was the one time my family, my managers and my accountant were all on the same page. They were like, “You have to get it.”

Is there anything you’d love to add to your collection? 

Stephen Burrows did the liquid gold dress that Farrah Fawcett wore to the Oscars. It’s killer; I’ve been obsessed with it for years. I kid you not. I was invited to a fundraiser by Nancy Chilton [veteran communications strategist and former chief external relations officer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute] and she introduced me to Sandy Schreier [who] is a major collector. I was wearing Stephen Burrows, and she said, “Oh, I have a lot of Stephen in my collection — do you know the Farrah Fawcett dress?” I was like, “You own that dress?” She was like, “I sure do.” So I will never have that one in my collection, but I love it.

When did you first develop an interest in fashion?

As a little kid, my mom and I would watch old movies together, and so we’d watch Mildred Pierce and Imitation of Life and Carmen Jones, and we would just talk about how beautiful the clothes were.

Why do you think vintage is so popular now including with stars?

Because sustainability has become a bigger part of the conversation. But also with social media, people don’t want to be dressed like everyone else.

What do you hope to accomplish by donating your pieces to cultural institutions?

Both my parents grew up in the segregated South, so the fact that none of us knew who Ann Lowe was until I became an adult, that’s really a travesty. I want other little girls to know who she is. 

Keli Goff Hits the Red Carpet in Vintage

Left: On the red carpet for the International Emmy Awards in November, Goff paired a Stephen Burrows evening top from the 1970s with a Karl Lagerfeld skirt and a vintage belt from New York City’s Spellman Gallery.

Center: At the Tribeca Film festival in June, she wore a jacket by Patrick Kelly and one of her 25-or-so pairs of Zenni glasses. “I have the exact same jacket in teal,” says Goff, who also favors contemporary pieces by Sergio Hudson and Off-White.

Right: She wore a leopard-print dress by Kelly to the premiere of And Just Like That in 2021. “I love classic style but with a little edge. I do kind of quirky glasses, or quirky sneakers or whatever,” says Goff. “It’s Jackie O. meets Grace Jones.”

This story first appeared in the Dec. 7 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.