Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion, a new documentary film directed by Matthew Miele, was presented by PALMER on March 13 at The Norton Museum of Art, followed by a private dinner at luxury jeweler Lugano’s magnificent Worth Avenue salon. Guests included: Veronica Webb, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Kimberly Bluhm, Kathy Hilton, Gigi Mortimer, Victoria Hagan, Gayfryd Steinberg, Lisa Perry, Annette Tapert, Cathy Graham and Ashley Holzer.

The film highlights the legendary designer’s glittering career, dressing a veritable Who’s Who list of the top names in the world of entertainment. The notoriously private designer, born in 1939 in Monterey Park, California, opens up in the film, which quietly unfolds Mackie’s life—from his beginnings of helping costume designer Jean Louis create Marilyn Monroe’s famous rhinestone-studded “naked dress” for her 1962 Madison Square Garden performance of Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy and dressing renowned entertainer Mitzi Gaynor, to his work with Cher, Tina Turner, Pink, Diana Ross, Judy Garland, Carol Burnett, and many more.

Designer Tom Ford, for one, was greatly influenced by Mackie. “My tastes were formed in the 1970s,” he says, “and the clothes of Bob Mackie were very much part of what I absorbed as visual beauty.”

As a child, Mackie recalls he was always drawing, even creating handmade stage sets on his dresser. “I was always daydream-ing about pretty,” he says. Influenced by movies such as An American in Paris with Gene Kelly, and by campy singer Carmen Miranda, Mackie evolved his sense of play into into a magical world of creation and imagination. “A woman who wears my clothes is not afraid to be noticed.” And how!

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s first-ever Met Gala in 1974, Cher confidently sauntered in wearing a now famous, and very scandalous, Mackie creation—his naked illusion dress was trimmed in white feathers, with beads and rhinestones in all the right places. Although criticized by some for being inappropriate, the dress became a huge hit, and was later featured on the entertainer for the cover of Time magazine, which Mackie credits as one of his biggest moments.

It was the start of a life-long relationship that Joe McFate, Mackie’s design director, said blossomed between two people who were both relatively shy, yet larger than life. Cher credits Mackie with helping her to become a big star, thanks to his over-the-top creations for The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and later, for her Cher variety show.

“You don’t always get to do what you want in life,” offers Mackie. “But I did.” He points out the Tony he won in 2019 for Best Costume Design in a Musical for his work on the Broadway show The Cher Show as one of his proudest moments. “I always dreamed of working on Broadway, and this fulfilled a lifelong dream for me.”

Director Miele says that what struck him most about Mackie was his modesty regarding his enormous achievements. “This guy has done it all,” he says. “He’s just so genuine and is devoid of the big ego you would expect for someone who has contributed so much.” “His creations are born out of imagination, creativity, and emotion,” he concludes. “And it’s amazing to see how today’s entertainers, stars like JLo, Beyoncé, Zendaya, and Miley Cyrus, still flock to him and trust him completely.”