Black History - Did you Know?
Will this being our “Black History” month, I wanted to tell you about a few Black designers. We all love the fashions from the past, there was some awesome Black Designers that was my favorite. The first one was: Ann Cole Lowe: read and learn how she made her mark in our fashion world.
Ann Cole Lowe (December 14, 1898 – February 25, 1981) was an American fashion designer and the first African American to become a noted fashion designer.[1] Lowe's one-of-a-kind designs were a favorite among high society matrons from the 1920s to the 1960s. In 1953, she designed the ivory silk taffeta wedding dress worn by Jacqueline Bouvier when she married Senator John F. Kennedy.As she was not getting credit for her work, Lowe and her son opened a second salon, Ann Lowe's Gowns, in New York City on Lexington Avenue in 1950.[5][8][9] Her one-of-a-kind designs made from the finest fabrics were an immediate success and attracted many wealthy, high society clients.[8] The Saturday Evening Post
later called Lowe "society's best kept secret".[1][6] Throughout her career, Lowe was known for being highly selective in choosing her clientele. She later described herself as "an awful snob", adding: "I love my clothes and I'm particular about who wears them. I am not interested in sewing for cafe society or social climbers. I do not cater to Mary and Sue. I sew for the families of the Social Register."[10] Over the course of her career, Lowe created designs for several generations of the Auchinclosses, the Rockefellers, the Lodges, the Du Ponts, the Posts and the Biddles.[1][6] In 1953, she was hired to design a wedding dress for future First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier and the dresses for her bridal attendants for her September wedding to then-Senator John F. Kennedy.[11] Lowe was chosen by Janet Auchincloss, the mother of Jacqueline Bouvier, who had previously commissioned Lowe to design the wedding dress she wore when she married Hugh D. Auchincloss in 1942.[2] Lowe's dress for Jacqueline Bouvier consisted of fifty yards of "ivory silk taffeta with interwoven bands of tucking forming the bodice and similar tucking in large circular designs swept around the full skirt."[11] The dress, which cost $500 (approximately $5,000 today), was described in detail in The New York Time's coverage of the wedding.[12][6] While the Bouvier-Kennedy wedding was a highly publicized event, Lowe did not receive public credit for her work.
On Thursday, I'll tell you about another Black Designer: Willi Smith
