ANNE LOWE – BORN TO INNOVATE

Todays tribute is to the first African-American seamstress to the “Elite” of her time. Anne Lowe was born in Clayton, Alabama in 1898 Ann’s influence was from her mother who was also a seamstress as well as run a small dressmaking shop. To carry out her mothers legacy, Anne took over the shop and enrolled in the S.T. Taylor Design School for fashion design.

In the early 1950’s Jacqueline Bouvier fell in love with her dresses. She was one of Anne’s favorite client which made perfect sense to have her make her wedding dress to President John Kennedy as well as 10 dresses for her wedding party.

Anne was well-known for using the “trapunto” technique in dressmaking. In 1961, Anne opened a boutique in Saks Fifth Avenue. That same year, she was awarded the Couturier of the Year Plaque by New York Fashion society. Some of Anne’s greatest accomplishments were appearing in the National Society Directory, was 1968 Who’s Who of American Women, opened a successful store on Madison Avenue NY, and created more than 2,000 dresses for the “Socialite” of New York. Five of her gowns are permanently featured in the collection of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Many other gowns are featured in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC and the Black Fashion Museum in Harlem.

Anne Lowe retired in the late 1970’s and died in 1981 at the age of 83. I am so honored to pay tribute to a very talented designer who broke down barriers in the fashion industry with GLAM.

~ by flauntfashionstyling on February 2, 2010.