Pat Cleveland's parents separated when she was young and she was raised by her mother in Harlem.
13 Facts About Pat Cleveland
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Pat Cleveland studied performing arts at Fiorello H LaGuardia High School and studied design at New York's High School of Art and Design and hoped to become a fashion designer.
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Pat Cleveland noted in her book Walking with the Muses: A Memoir that her first photographs were taken when she was fourteen by Van Vechten's friend Adelaide Passen, one of the first women employed as a press photographer in the United States.
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Pat Cleveland agreed and decided she would place her aspirations to be a designer on hold and try her luck as a fashion model.
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Pat Cleveland has stated that Ford had rejected her based on her race.
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Pat Cleveland made her first appearance as a fashion model in American Vogue in June 1970, photographed by Berry Berenson and the same year, appeared in the very first issue of Essence magazine.
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Pat Cleveland relocated to Paris at the suggestion of fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez in 1971, and soon became a house model for Karl Lagerfeld, who was the main designer at Chloe.
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Pat Cleveland vowed not to return to the United States until a black model appeared on the American cover of Vogue.
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Pat Cleveland was one of 36 models to walk the runway for the event.
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Pat Cleveland appeared in editorials for Harper's Bazaar Japan and Vogue Spain.
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In 2021, Pat Cleveland was played by model and actress Dilone in the five-part Netflix miniseries biographical drama Halston, which chronicled the life of Pat Cleveland's longtime friend, designer Halston.
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Pat Cleveland had a six-year on-and-off affair with actor Warren Beatty.
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In March 2019, days after walking the runway for the Tommy Hilfiger show at Paris Fashion Week, Pat Cleveland was rushed to the American Hospital of Paris after falling ill.