28 Days of Little Known Facts About (Black) American History | Ann Lowe (16)

We are pleased to spotlight Ann Lowe in day sixteen of our first annual 28 Days of Little Known Facts About (Black) American History

Ann Lowe is the the first notable Black American Designer.

Lowe learned her craft in her family’s custom dress shop in Alabama and then moved to Florida in 1916, where she quickly became a premier custom dressmaker.Lowe designed dresses for other fashion houses at first, throughout the Great Depression and World War II, but by 1950 she was working steadily at her own Madison Avenue dress salon.

In 1953, she designed the ivory silk taffeta wedding dress worn by Jacqueline Bouvier when she married Senator John F. Kennedy.

Her elegant work was embraced by members of the Social Register, and in 1957 the New York Times celebrated Lowe as an expert in the field “who has been turning out impeccably dressed debutantes for twenty years, and charges up to $500 for her custom-made evening stunners.” Lowe’s gowns appeared with proper credit in Vogue, Vanity Fair. and Town and Country magazines throughout the 1950s and 1960s. After closing her shop for financial reasons in 1960, she became a featured designer at the prestigious Adam Room at Saks Fifth Avenue. Lowe reopened her salon in 1964.

The contributions of Black designers to high fashion continue to be unrecognized by mainstream society.

About The 28 Day Campaign

This informational campaign: 28 Days of Little Known Facts About Black American History will see 540Blog share little known facts about Black Americans throughout history every day throughout the month of February. Those that were groundbreaking and history making but do not necessarily get the media attention and coverage.

Source(s): Wikipedia // National Archive Pieces of History