Willie Smith
1 catalogued object connected to Willie Smith.
Biography
Person.
Willi Smith was an American fashion designer whose WilliWear label brought an experimental sensibility to accessible everyday clothing. Raised in Philadelphia, he studied in New York and developed a practice that drew on the clothes and visual energy of city streets.
His work crossed fashion, art, architecture and performance through collaborations with other artists and designers. For the Spring 1986 collection, he conceived Expedition, a film photographed by Max Vadukul in Dakar and made with local performers. Smith’s combination of ready-to-wear, collaborative image-making and unconventional presentation helped establish approaches that later became familiar within streetwear and contemporary fashion.
Reviewed 2026-09-07Selected sources
- Cooper Hewitt — About Willi SmithBackground, WilliWear, accessibility and cross-disciplinary collaborations.
- Cooper Hewitt — ExpeditionSpring 1986 collection film, Vadukul and Dakar collaborators.
- The Face no. 75 — Original contentsPrinted Willi Smith spelling and feature on page 26.
