A divine tribute to Fashionata

The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, 1440 Spring St. NW, Atlanta.

$180; $300 for two, www.returntorichs.org/#bedivine or call 678-222-3700

Long before fashion shows in Paris were live-streamed to computers in Dunwoody and before style bloggers issued style statements to the world, there was another important place where Atlantans went for the 411 on haute couture.

Fashionata — the annual musical fashion show created by Rich’s department store — debuted as a school benefit in the mid-1940s. Early shows were held at the Erlanger Theater. It languished for several years until 1957, when Rich’s then fashion director, the late Sol Kent, resurrected the show in a small production at the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel.

Fashionata would run for nearly 40 years, establishing Kent as a force in the fashion world and giving Atlanta a taste of international style.

On May 1, fans will have a chance to revisit that run away moment in runway fashion at “Be Divine: A Tribute To Fashionata,” at the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum. Designed to coincide with “Return To Rich’s: The Story Behind The Store,” an exhibition that runs through May 27, the tribute includes three decades of fashion with a nod toward Kent’s impeccable style.

Tuxedos were his thing and in everyday dressing he avoided anything too trendy. “Some call that being a fashion bore,” Kent once said. But if his personal style was subdued, his shows were anything but understated. Fashionata, said those who remember, was always a lively affair.

“It was like a Broadway production,” said Martha Jo Katz, who walked the runway from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. “Mr. Kent was a genius at showing us what to do. He would even show us how to walk.”

If he needed a slouch, Kent could demonstrate. A flirty skip? No problem. When he was pleased with his “mannequins” his eyes would twinkle and the slightest smile would curl his lips.

When the curtain closed on one show, he was already coming up with new and innovative themes for the next one. Over the years, shows were inspired by everything from Shakespeare to the rock musical “Hair.” Men were later added to the lineup and the sold-out show moved to larger venues, eventually finding a home at the Fox Theatre.

In 1971, Fashionata became a charity event benefiting Atlanta institutions ranging from the Shepherd Spinal Center to the High Museum of Art. It brought big names to the city such as composer Marvin Hamlisch, designer Bill Blass and Fred Hayman, the boutique owner and creator of Giorgio perfume.

Kent retired from Rich’s in 1991, four years before the theatrical fashion show would go dark. The fashion world had changed. Cable television and new media made exposure to high-end fashion more accessible to a broader audience. Producing a huge show that took a year to plan would soon be considered extravagant. By 2005, Rich’s itself would be swallowed by Macy’s.

But in some small ways, the Kent show goes on.

“There isn’t a week that goes by that someone doesn’t say something to me about Sol Kent,” said Kent’s wife Irene. “He was bigger than life. Fashionata was a labor of love for him.”

For everyone else — the audience, Kent’s devoted Rich’s clients and the young models who viewed Kent as a father figure — Fashionata was a crash course in elegance, grace and style.

Creating a tribute to the historic event was a challenge. “I tried to stay authentic to Sol Kent,” said the show producer and former Fashionata model, Randi Layne, who combed the closets of local fashionistas and vintage stores for period clothing. She narrowed 175 items down to the 75 outfits that will appear in the tribute show — including some that were originally worn on the Fashionata runways.

The chosen items include gowns, jumpsuits and a “car wash” dress representing designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Chanel, Geoffrey Beene and Yves Saint Laurent. “These women are still wearing these clothes. They are timeless and there is nothing in the show you wouldn’t wear today,” Layne said.

The fashion industry veteran makes it clear that while this is a tribute to Fashionata, it is not a duplicate. “Fashionata broke the mold,” Layne said. “Those days are gone.”

But the city is left with a rich tradition that lives in our collective memory.