Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU

One morning in 1995, Irene Williams was spotted by Eric Smith, a New York City designer, entrepreneur and founder of E.G. Smith Socks, and they began a friendship that lasted until she passed away in 2004. Eric documented Irene’s colorful life on film and produced an award-winning documentary titled Irene Williams: Queen of Lincoln Road. Upon her death, she left her colorful collection of hats, photos and letters to Eric, many of which are included in this exhibit.

The opening on July 13 will feature a showing of the documentary film by Smith, that won numerous awards on the film festival circuit. Also on view are a series of similarly splashy hats on loan from the personal collections of community leader Isabel Bernfeld Anderson, and preservationist/tourism guru George Neary.  The exhibition will be on view through November 5, 2017