Mary Bright

Mary Bright (11 January 1954 – 29 November 2002) was a Scottish curtain designer. She began her career doing a short apprenticeship at Paris' Lanvin 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, Scotland. She was the daughter of a family doctor. Bright learnt fine arts in London and then fashion and millinery in Leeds; despite this, she did not formally train as a designer. Bright did a brief apprenticeship period at Paris' Lanvin 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, the actress. According to The Times, Bright "found herself in great demand, often working with New York's leading architects and interior designers." Such clients of hers included Lauren Bacall, Calvin Klein, The Mercer Hotel of New York, Bette Midler, Museum of Modern Art of New York, Rupert Murdoch, Wendi Deng Murdoch and Jean-Georges Vongerichten among other contemporary architects such as Laurie Hawkinson, 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.