Celebrate Kate

The event, held at Sammy’s at Legacy Village in Lyndhurst, Ohio, coincided with the release of a United States Postal Service commemorative stamp bearing the likeness of Hepburn. The date of the event also held additional significance, as May 12 is Hepburn’s birthday.

Presented by Dillard’s department store as a benefit for the museum, the luncheon featured an elegant lunch, a Hepburn-inspired fashion show and the unveiling of the stamp.

Cleveland Postmaster W. Spencer Hsu presented a framed image of the U.S. Postal Service’s commemorative stamp featuring Hepburn to Jean Druesedow, the director of the museum and the exhibition’s curator.

“Katharine Hepburn’s mark on 20th-century fashion is indisputable,” Druesedow said. “Her style sense remains an important element still influencing fashion designs and trends even today.”

The Dillard’s fashion show, which followed the stamp unveiling, presented myriad fashion “looks” attributable to Hepburn’s tremendous influence. A dozen models wowed the crowd with more than 60 ensembles ranging from glamorous to sporty, tomboy to ultrafeminine, elegant gowns to tailored slacks, all clearly impacted by Hepburn and her iconic fashion sense.

The show raised about $8,000 for the museum.

The luncheon served as a preview to the museum’s exclusive Katherine Hepburn exhibition — Katherine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen — that opens Oct. 2.

Before the exhibition’s opening, the museum will be the setting for 25 Years of DAZZLE, a gala celebrating its 25th anniversary on Sept. 25. The event offer guests not only a preview of the Hepburn exhibit, but also the opportunity to mingle with Robert Osborne, the host of Turner Classic Movies, along with Ann Rutherford, who played Scarlett O’Hara’s younger sister in the classic film “Gone With The Wind.”

After the exhibition opens, a full schedule of events will celebrate Hepburn’s influence on fashion, her life and artistry, stage and screen costume design and the impact of the entertainment industry on fashion. These events will include a film series, a course on Hepburn and special reception opportunities at the museum.

In 2008, the Kent State University Museum was honored to receive Hepburn’s personal collection of film, stage and television costumes, as well as clothes worn by her for publicity purposes.

Recognized as a renowned actress, role model, fashion icon, outspoken, independent and feisty, Hepburn is listed by the American Film Institute as Hollywood’s greatest screen legend. During a career that spanned six decades, Hepburn was nominated 12 times for Academy Awards as best actress and won four. Her sense of style influenced countless women, fashion designers and the informal, elegant approach to American style seen on today’s runways.

For more information about the Hepburn stamp, visit http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2010/pr10_ma0503.htm.

More information about the exhibit can be found on the museum’s website at www.kent.edu/museum, as well as on the museum’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/pages/Kent-OH/Kent-State-University-Museum/96914435300).