Mary Bright (11 January 1954 – 29 November 2002) was a Scottish curtain designer. She began her career doing a short apprenticeship at Paris'
Lanvin
Lanvin () is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Paris. Founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin, it is the oldest French fashion house still in operation. Since 2018, it has been a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Lanvin Group. Bruno Sialel ...
fashion house. In 1979, Bright relocated to New York City and worked as a hat maker as well as designing clothes. She began designing curtains in her own studio Mary Bright Inc. in 1983, and her clientele included contemporary architects and other well-known celebrities. Bright was also a contributor to exhibition design. She experimented with corrugated paper, rubber and fine metal meshes with cut and sewn linen and wool.
Biography
On 11 January 1954, Bright was born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Scotland.
She was the daughter of a family doctor.
Bright learnt fine arts in London and then fashion and millinery in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
;
despite this, she did not formally train as a designer.
Bright did a brief apprenticeship period at Paris'
Lanvin
Lanvin () is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Paris. Founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin, it is the oldest French fashion house still in operation. Since 2018, it has been a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Lanvin Group. Bruno Sialel ...
fashion house, where she learnt millinery's secrets. At Gelot, she sewed men's hats.
In 1979,
she relocated to the
East Village neighbourhood of New York City, working as a hat maker,
learning the production of both garments and sowing.
To complement her work, Bright became a clothing designer, completing such projects as a cocktail dress with a revealing back shielded by slats by a window blind.
In 1983, she began working as a curtain designer in her own studio Mary Bright Inc. in lower Broadway,
when she designed a curtain for
Ellen Barkin
Ellen Rona Barkin (born April 16, 1954) is an American actress and a producer. Her breakthrough role was in the 1982 film '' Diner'', and in the following years, she had starring roles in films such as ''Tender Mercies'' (1983), ''Eddie and the ...
, the actress.
According to ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', Bright "found herself in great demand, often working with New York's leading architects and interior designers."
Such clients of hers included
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary Aw ...
,
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...
,
The Mercer Hotel
The Mercer Hotel, located at the corner of Mercer and Prince Streets in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City, was the second acquisition in the luxury collection of André Balazs hotels. It offers 75 guest rooms on six floors of a Romanesque revival bui ...
of New York,
Bette Midler
Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...
,
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
of New York,
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
,
Wendi Deng Murdoch
Wendi Deng Murdoch (; born Deng Wen Di; December 5, 1968) is a Chinese-born American entrepreneur, investor, movie producer, media mogul, and collector of Chinese contemporary art.
Early life and education
Wendi Deng was born in Jinan, Shan ...
and
among other contemporary architects such as
Laurie Hawkinson
Laurie Ann Hawkinson (born March 25, 1952) is an American architect. She worked at Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies and is a partner at Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects. Hawkinson is also a Professor of Architecture at Columbia Uni ...
, Henry Smith-Miller, Keenen Riley, Michael Schmitt and Kevin Walz.
One of Bright's works, which was a -high, -wide undulating veil of tiny metal coils, was hung in the Museum of Modern Art's restaurant.
She was a contributor to exhibition design, such as for Mies in Berlin at the Museum of Modern Art in 2001.
Personal life
She was married to David Paskin from 1990 to 2002.
In 2002, Bright was diagnosed with lung cancer, which had metastasised to her brain and body treated with radiation and steroids.
On 29 November 2002, she died from lung cancer at
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...
.
Approach and legacy
Bright experimented by using the materials corrugated paper, rubber and fine metal meshes,
with linen and wool that was cut and sewn on.
Using such materials garnered her much attention,
and she would spread the fabric on a worktable,
before cutting it up with her shears.
Every room of her clients saw Bright apply a different solution of materials,
such as blends, buttery wools, shimmering linens, synthetics, and Teflon-coated nylons of which she promoted.
She said in 1997: "I try to find other ways besides using fringe and tassels to make curtains look interesting."
Bright also used silvery metals in her works starting from 1987, which gradually became fashionable, and included of silk taffeta lining peering at the centre and bottom in the style of a petticoat to distinguish.
John A. Hoch described her legacy in the January 2003 issue of ''
Metropolitan Home
''Metropolitan Home'' is an interior design magazine published by Hearst Magazines. The magazine focuses on "high-end modern design and interiors, blended with intelligent reporting, to connect with a progressive reader mindset."
History and prof ...
'': "As a needle woman, she certainly flourished in her exacting craft in the most inventive and creative sense. And then there was Mary's depth of perception--whether at a showroom, an East Village restaurant or local coffee shop. Mary could assess a group or individual and ignite the situation into fiery brilliance with wit and sparkle, or calm it with that inner serenity of hers."
Hoch also referred to Bright as "a larger-than-life individual" and "a unique talent".
William L. Johnson of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote of Bright's artistry: "from controlled chaos – a crinkled polyester curtain for a New York apartment that looks alive with the electricity of an approaching storm – to a flatness as tranquil as a flat sea."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bright, Mary
1956 births
2002 deaths
Artists from Edinburgh
20th-century Scottish women artists
21st-century Scottish women artists
British textile designers
British milliners
Scottish expatriates in the United States
Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state)