'60s Model Pat Cleveland Is A Stunning Fashion Risk-Taker Today

The year is 1966, and 15-year-old Pat Cleveland is walking down a New York subway platform in a black-and-white checkered raincoat and a miniskirt. Miniskirts haven't quite become the fashion statement they will soon be, but Cleveland is already wearing one she made herself. This unusual outfit will soon catch the eye of a Vogue employee and put Cleveland on the path to a modeling career. Now, more than half a century later, not much has changed in regards to her fashion choices. She still makes multiple outfits for herself each week, and nothing about her style is typical.

One look in particular stands out among the rest. The veteran model walked for the Lingua Franca fashion show in February 2025, wearing a bright-patterned strapless dress paired with a dramatic floor-length teddy coat, which had animal ears attached to the hood. Cleveland completed the outfit with bright-red shoes, adding another pop of color to the eccentric, playful look. Even if it was part of a fashion show, it was unusual, stunning, and gave us yet another reason why "dress your age" should be banished from fashion discourse.

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Over her decades-long career, Cleveland has made a name for herself by treating fashion as art and dressing up as a performance. "Every time you do a show or a fashion season, it's very tribal," she said in a 2026 interview with Coveteur. "Everyone coming together, showing off like peacocks in front of each other." This loyalty to her creative process might explain why she's changed so little over the years, something that becomes especially clear when you look at side-by-side photos of the most legendary '60s models in their heyday and decades later.

As a child, Pat Cleveland began making her own clothes because she couldn't find any that fit her tall frame. As a teen, she enrolled in the High School of Art and Design and made a new outfit for school each night after doing her homework. Later in her career, she would wear experimental clothes for designer Stephen Burrows. "I would often test drive his dresses and if they held up the night, we knew it would work for everybody," she recalled in a 2017 interview with the Council of Fashion Designers of America. This willingness to experiment with fashion is still visible in her fashion choices today, even beyond the runway.

In September 2024, Cleveland stunned at The Daily Front Row's 11th Annual Fashion Media Awards in an avant-garde gold-and-black dress. It featured a sculptural bodice, enormous black sleeves, and an artistic, experimental flair. Another recent noteworthy look came during the Laura Biagiotti fashion show in February 2026, where her outfit served as the ultimate guide to putting together the perfect monochromatic outfit. She made a simple blouse and skirt look high-fashion with a statement sweater shawl and her signature flair. Even her hair, plaited into a messy braid, wasn't a typical choice.

In a 2026 interview with Mother Denim, Cleveland shared a bit about the inspiration behind her unique fashion choices, which have been going strong for more than 60 years. "You know, like every season when you have to put out a new collection, here comes the challenge. What are we going to do?" She continued, "The mother of inspiration. Like that's how you get inventive. Not knowing what to do next. Then you have to invent something."