‘Mahogany’ is still a winner
Classic film gave Academy Award winner a chance to stretch her fashion chops
Do you know where you’re going to?
Do you know the things that life is showing you?
Diana Ross sang about complexities of life in this theme song from “Mahogany,” the 1975 cult film in which she stars as an aspiring fashion designer from Chicago who rises to fame in Rome.
The film, a rags-to-riches story about the power of love and fashion, will be shown 7 p.m. Saturday at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston for its “Movies Houstonians Love” series. (I’m hosting.)
Now in its 13th season, the series gives notable Houstonians a chance to host a screening of their favorite film. Past hosts have included Houston Ballet’s Lauren Anderson with “Singin’ in the Rain,” fashion designer Chloe Dao with “Dead Poets Society,” and Mayor Sylvester Turner with “A Raisin in the Sun.”
By the time of the film’s release in 1975, Ross had left The Supremes, one of the most successful girl groups of all time, and had launched a glamorous solo career. In 1972, she won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her stunning portrayal of drugaddicted blues singer Billie Holiday in “Lady Sings the Blues.”
“Mahogany” gave Ross a chance to stretch her fashion chops by serving as the film’s costume designer. Her looks were bold and beautiful and inspired legions of fashion-focused African American girls to channel their inner diva. The movie also came at a time when the fashion landscape was transforming with the emergence of top black runway models, including Pat Cleveland, Naomi Sims, Beverly Johnson and Iman.
“Mahogany is an entertaining choice that encourages an appreciation of Diana Ross’s amazing talent as showcased in this culturally
significant 1970s classic,” said Marian Luntz, the museum’s curator of film and video. “It will be so memorable and fun to watch “Mahogany” on the big screen.”
Even those not yet born when the film debuted find it groundbreaking. Houston drag performer Chloe T. Crawford bought the movie on DVD after seeing excerpts in television tributes to Ross. She says it’s now one of her favorites and she can recites lines from it.
“I absolutely love it because Diana Ross is a boss,” Crawford said. “Whenever I perform
her and before I get on stage, I say to myself, ‘I’m a winner. I’m a winner, baby, and these people love me!’ just like she does in movie.”