Dress worn in Broadway production of Kinky Boots

Dress worn by Billy Porter as Lola in the Broadway production of the musical Kinky Boots at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The sleeved mini dress has a brown flesh-colored mesh base with a darker red fabric torso section with a plunging neckline. Bands of red jewels and sequins are affixed in diagonal stripes on the sleeves, while the torso section features vertical lines of red jewels and sequins. The dress also features a loose fringe of red sequins attached at the bottom hem.

Kinky Boots is one of the most popular and acclaimed musicals of the 21st century, having won a season-high six Tony Awards of 13 nominations in 2013 including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Choreography. The musical Kinky Boots was an adaptation of from the 2005 British film of the same name, itself an adaptation of a 1999 episode of the BBC2 documentary series Trouble at the Top exploring the story of an English shoe company executive who faced the prospect of having to close his family’s factory due to rising costs and declining profits. He saved the company by transitioning to producing fetish footwear for men despite workers’ initial discomfort. Broadway producer Daryl Roth recruited acclaimed writer, performer, and LGBTQ advocate Harvey Fierstein to write the book and pop musician Cyndi Lauper to write the music for the show, which opened on Broadway April 4, 2013. The musical version of Kinky Boots tells the same story of the Price & Son shoe factory In Northampton, England, but in its dialogue and music stresses the themes of inclusion, tolerance, and self-acceptance.

Currently not on view