Patrick Kelly, 35; Designed Quirky Fashions for Stars

Patrick Kelly, the Mississippi-born designer whose witty fashions were worn by clients ranging from the Princess of Wales to such rock stars as Grace Jones, has died in Paris, his company announced Tuesday.

Kelly, 35, the only American ever to become a member of France’s venerable Chambre Syndicale, a federation of Paris designers, died Monday of bone marrow disease and a brain tumor at Paris’ Hotel Dieu, said Martine Planterose, managing director of Patrick Kelly Boutique.

Kelly was born in Vicksburg, Miss., where his mother was a schoolteacher. In 1972, midway through Jackson State University in Mississippi, he gave up studies for fashion.

He persuaded an aunt to teach him how to sew, and soon he was patching up clothes with whatever thread and even mismatched buttons were on hand.

Craving big-city experience, he headed for Atlanta and got a job delivering used clothes. By chance, he met model Pat Cleveland, who encouraged him to move to New York and then to Paris to pursue his career.

In Paris, he first sold clothes in the street, specializing in tight dresses covered with buttons. His first collection, made on a portable sewing machine, was shown in Paris in 1985.

At a 1987 interview, he wore his trademark Size 56 bib overalls, neon orange basketball shoes and a red satin Chicago Bulls jacket.

“My clothes have a political-power message,” he said then. “I want ‘em to make people happy.”

Bergdorf Goodman bought his 1985 collection, and Kelly went on to successes with a series of short, tight shift dresses decorated with bows, sequin designs and his trademark buttons.

During the last several years, the always-accessible Kelly could be seen racing through the streets of Paris on a skateboard and selling his clothes to Diana, Princess of Wales; actress Jane Seymour, and the singers Madonna and Grace Jones. One of his closest friends was actress Bette Davis, who also wore some of his stretch evening wear of blue or black denim.

Survivors include his mother and a longtime companion identified only as Amelan.