Hi! Our attention was on art for last week's Art and Fashion Spotlight, so I thought I'd trade off and do a fashion-related one this week, which would give us an even number of artists & fashion-related professionals by the end of the month. It was a little strange to see that in all of the books I consulted for research, there weren't any fashion-related accomplishments or even much mention of the contribution that African-Americans made to the fashion industry.
Name: Ann Lowe, 1898-1981
Profession: Fashion designer
Why is the Spotlight on her today? For her achievements in the fashion industry
Accomplishments:
--The first notable African-American fashion designer for upper society
--Designed the dress that Olivia de Havilland wore to accept her Oscar in the 1940s
--Had a number of her creations sold in stores like Neiman Marcus and Henri Bendel
--Kicked off her career by finishing formal gowns for the First Lady of Alabama upon her mother's death
--Designed the dress for Jacqueline Bouvier's wedding to JFK, which is now on permanent display at the JFK Presidential Library & Museum
--Has several designs on display as part of a collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Further reading links:
Wikipedia | Harlem's Fashion Row |
I really like that Ann Lowe was able to make a name for herself selling dresses to the rich and powerful during such a racially charged period of time. It was still a time when people weren't so keen to take on Black professionals, which is I'm not surprised that even though Ann Lowe's designs were popular, she often deigned to receive credit for her dresses for years. I hope that more current sources of African-American oriented information include accomplishments like Ann Lowe's; you never know what industry may inspire a young person to follow their dreams. I hope you enjoyed today's post and I'll see you tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment