From the 10th of November through the 13th Comme des Garçons CEO Adrian Joffe opened the doors of his cultural space 35/37 in Paris, France to Diane Pernet’s ASVOFF 14 (A Shaded View On Fashion Film Festival.
Antonio’s Closet Productions was invited to have the Paris Premiere of their latest animated short film, “The Girl From 7th Avenue: Pat Cleveland and the Runway Revolution”. This piece had its American debut at the La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival on July 30th, 2022, where they were nominated for seven International Fashion Film Awards and took home two awards: Best Animation & Best Documentary.
On the eve of the 50th Anniversary of the iconic “Battle of Versailles” Fashion Show and Fundraiser where American Fashion stumbled into the spotlight and made history thanks to a group of American models who represented diversity at its best, Antonio Contreras (Artistic Director) & Gehno Aviance (Executive Director) were joined in Paris by the Legendary Supermodel, Pat Cleveland and her husband, renowned photographer, Paul Van Ravenstein.
Numerous personalities of the arts and fashion were in attendance, among them the most stylish woman in Paris according to Vogue, Catherine Baba, couturier Jean Charles Castelbajac, Renate Zatsch, one of the most published faces of the 70’s and Karl Lagerfeld’s long time friend, Daniel Lismore U.K.’s living sculpture and Vogue’s UK Suzy Menkes.
Antonio’s Closet Productions and their entourage were greeted with a glowing welcome. Everybody from the Organizer to the attendees were mesmerized by Pat Cleveland’s grace and beauty, creating a photographer and camera phone frenzy!
The film was a breath of fresh air according to Catherine Baba, celebrity stylist and designer Phillip Bloch said “I am living vicariously through all your success and gorgeous outfits”
After all this event was a fashion film festival, Pat Cleveland showed up the night of the screening wearing a Julia Clancey kimono with Manolo Blahnik heels, for the closing ceremony she opted for a custom made sequined gown by her fiend Naeem Khan and dripping in diamonds by San Francisco’s legend Rosalina Lydster, Antonio Contreras wore archival Jean Paul Gaultier 1994 from the Tarbulboud’deville collection and Gehno Aviance wore a custom made hoodie with the art from the movie by Exile Tees
Pat Cleveland partied with Andy Warhol, lived with Karl Lagerfeld, inspired Salvador Dalí, refused Muhammed Ali’s proposal, and took on the fashion industry for not representing black models on the cover of magazines and on the runway in the early 70s. She also had and continues to have a parallel career as a singer. On special occasions, such as the Malono Bhlanik’s Summer Garden Party, Pat Cleveland has graced international audiences with her voice.
Her latest musical endeavor is a Deep House collaboration with Gehno Aviance (One A) from Antonio’s Closet Productions The track is called “Legendary Runway”. All the vocals were recorded at the Coronado Hotel in San Diego by Pat Cleveland and Gehno Aviance.
Setting the record straight, in this track, Pat Cleveland asks the girls to “vogue”. This is a reference to the first vogue session on the runway ever, which was started by Pat Cleveland and the “Girls from 7th Avenue” at the Battle of Versailles in 1973.
The track is a joint release from Koritsi Komma Records & Unicorn Breeding Ground, up and coming Queer BIPOC-run record labels from the West Coast.
Photography By: Nicolas Dolce, Paul Van Ravenstein and Foc Kan