Gary Graham
American clothing designer Gary Graham launched his first women’s apparel collection in New York City in 1999. Respected for its exquisite detailing, sophisticated craftsmanship and historical erudition, the line was sold at select luxury retailers worldwide (Barney’s Japan, Dover Street Market, Trois Pommes Switzerland) and at the Gary Graham flagship NYC retail store. In 2018 Graham relocated to the small town of Franklin, NY and his eponymous brand was reborn as GaryGraham422. His production has shifted to small-batch clothing fabrication featuring unique interventions and one-of-a-kind fabrics. The studio’s rural locale has inspired new historical narratives and experimentation with rare antique textiles, while expanding production of Graham’s signature custom print fabrics and specially engineered jacquards.
Graham studied painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art and earned a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, was honored as a 2009 CFDA/Vogue award finalist and has been a recipient of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Legend of Fashion award. He has created textile collections for commercial interiors fabric manufacturer Pollack New York and designed a collection of one-of-a-kind women’s outerwear in a collaboration with Asian retailer Joyce Hong Kong.
In 2024 Graham designed costumes for artist Kara Walker’s San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibit Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine), creating custom garments for each of the show’s eight larger-than-life robotic figures. The deCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA recently hosted a speaking event with Graham discussing Tnamurya, his clothing collection inspired by notable 19th-century residents of the historic Old Manse. His work has been exhibited at Hancock Shaker Village, the Peabody Essex Museum and the American Folk Art Museum and is held as part of the permanent collections of the Peabody Essex Museum, the American Folk Art Museum, the Phoenix Museum of Art and the RISD Museum.