Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1984

  • Work on this object began.

2020

2025

  • You found it!

Illustration

This is a Illustration. It was designed by Willi Smith and graphic design by Bill Bonnell and made for WilliWear Ltd..

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Vignelli Center for Design Studies as part of Willi Smith: Street Couture.

It is dated 1984. Its medium is offset lithograph on tracing paper. It is a part of the Exhibitions department.

Smith began his career in fashion studying illustration at the Philadelphia College of Art. He soon realized that he wanted to design the clothes, not just draw them. Smith’s illustrations express the movement, attitude, and playfulness that became his signature.

It is credited Courtesy of Bill Bonnell papers, Vignelli Center for Design Studies, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 26.2 × 20.6 cm (10 5/16 × 8 1/8 in.) H x W (Frame Allowance): 28.7 × 20.6 cm (11 5/16 × 8 1/8 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Willi Smith: Street Couture.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318802419/ |title=Illustration |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=10 July 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>