Debut of statue honoring Frederick fashion designer McCardell scheduled for October
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Aug. 7—An unveiling is expected in October for a statue along Carroll Creek of Frederick native Claire McCardell, a fashion designer who helped revolutionize women's fashion.
The city's aldermen voted unanimously Thursday night to approve an agreement with the Community Foundation of Frederick County for the installation of the statue.
McCardell, who grew up in Frederick and died in 1958, was a successful designer whose innovations included inventing ballet flats, sewing pockets in dresses and the Monastic dress.
She grew up on Rockwell Terrace as the only daughter of Adrian Leroy McCardell, a state senator and the president of Frederick County National Bank. She graduated from Frederick High School and studied home economics at Hood College for two years.
McCardell's work is displayed at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, the Fashion Institute of Technology, the Maryland Center for History and Culture, Heritage Frederick and Hood College.
McCardell's statue and a public garden will be in Carroll Creek Linear Park, east of East Street on the south side of the creek.
In 2019, the Frederick Art Club commissioned sculptor Sarah Hempel Irani to create a sculpture of McCardell for a public display.
The club recommended creating a protective viewshed for the statue that keeps a direct line of sight between the statue and the former home of the Union Knitting Mills, which produced the first nylon stockings for Dupont, whose fabrics McCardell often used in her designs.
The plan is to break ground this month, install the statue in September and hold an unveiling on Oct. 17, assuming proper permitting and other details go as planned, Deputy Director for Parks and Recreation Bob Smith told the mayor and aldermen Thursday.
Follow Ryan Marshall on Twitter: @RMarshallFNP
