Black-Made Fashion: The Legacy of Ann Lowe

From beautifully embroidered dresses to hand-stitched gowns, Ann Lowe’s needle and thread secured her place in American History.

THE START OF AN ICONIC FASHION DESIGNER

In 1898, Ann Lowe, one of America’s most noteworthy fashion designers, was born in Clayton, Alabama.

Ann’s mother, Janie Cole Lowe, and her grandmother, Georgia Thompkins, were gifted dressmakers who worked for wealthy Alabama families. When Ann was around the age of five, her mother and grandmother began teaching her how to sew. From those lessons, a talented, passionate, and persistent fashion designer was born.

In 1912, Ann married Lee Cohen and had a son, Arthur Lee. In 1914, her mother unexpectedly passed away. Before she died, Ann’s mother was working on four ball gowns and one of them was for the first lady of Alabama. Ann successfully completed the dresses and established herself as a skilled dressmaker.

When Ann married Lee Cohen, he wanted her to give up her career as a seamstress and become a homemaker. In 1916, Ann was offered the opportunity to make bridal gowns and trousseau for a wealthy family in Tampa, Florida. She decided to leave her husband and move to Tampa with her son to pursue her passion.

Caption: On the left, a sentence with black and blue words. On the right, a beige gown made by Ann Lowe with floral accents stitched throughout the front and back of the dress.

ENDURING DISCRIMINATION AND EXCELLING IN DESIGN SCHOOL

In 1917, Ann moved to New York to attend the S.T. Taylor School of Design. Unfortunately, her classmates refused to be in the same room as an African American, so she was segregated in another classroom. Ann’s skills were so advanced that she completed the program in half the required time.

After completing the design program, she returned to Tampa and opened the Annie Cone boutique. In 1928, Ann closed the boutique and permanently moved to New York to continue designing for elite women and their families.

MOVING TO NEW YORK TO PURSUE HER DESIGN DREAMS

When Ann moved to New York, this marked a pivotal point in her career. In New York, she would eventually become the first African American to have a shop on the well-known fashion street, Madison Avenue.

Designing for an Oscar Award-winning Actress. In 1946, Ann designed a hand-painted floral gown for Olivia de Havilland. In an Ann Lowe original design, Olivia accepted the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the movie To Each His Own.

Crafting a Renowned Wedding Dress for a Future First Lady. In 1953, Ann acquired her most historically significant commission designing the wedding dress and bridesmaids' dresses for Jacqueline Bouvier and John F. Kennedy’s wedding. Unfortunately, Ann did not receive public recognition for these designs at the time.

Caption: On the left, a blue-green dress made by Ann Lowe with floral accents throughout the front and back of the dress. On the right, a sentence with black and blue words.

Working with Saks Fifth Avenue. In 1960, Saks invited Ann to work in The Adam Room. Saks released an official ad that included her silhouette and said, “Saks Fifth Avenue takes pride in announcing that the Debut and Bridal Gown Collection created by Ann Lowe can now be found exclusively in The Adam Room.”

However, Ann’s contract with Saks was extremely unfair. In exchange for a workroom, she brought her own list of clients, had to purchase her own supplies and fabrics, and had to pay her own staff. Saks determined the final prices of the dresses and Ann was paid considerably less than the cost of the materials and labor required to make them. These financial losses put her in debt, and in 1962, she left Saks and opened a small workshop.

REMAINING PERSISTENT THROUGH FINANCIAL AND HEALTH HARDSHIPS

That same year, the U.S. Department of Revenue closed Ann’s shop due to back taxes. After the foreclosure, Ann began working for Benjamin and Ione Stoddard at Madeleine Couture from 1962 to 1965. The Stoddards organized a major fashion show at the Berkshire Hotel that showcased Ann’s work and included some of her former clients as models.

Additionally, in 1962, Ann had her right eye removed due to glaucoma and, shortly after, obtained a risky operation to remove cataracts in her left eye. In 1968, Ann opened her final shop on Madison Avenue - Ann Lowe Originals.

She retired in 1972 and passed away in 1981.

THE LEGACY OF ANN LOWE

Over the course of her career, Ann designed for several generations of the Auchinclosses, the Rockefellers, the Lodges, the Du Ponts, the Posts and the Biddles.

Famous designers like Christian Dior and Edith Head admired Ann’s work, and high-end luxury brands, Montaldo’s, Neiman Marcus, and I. Magnin, requested her design expertise for key commissions. Ann’s gowns even appeared in Vogue and Vanity Fair magazines.

Despite often not being credited for her work, Ann spent much of her 50-year career crafting one-of-a-kind, intricate gowns for notable members of America’s social elite. The Saturday Evening Post would later say she was "society's best kept secret."

Although Ann experienced immense racism and overwhelming loss throughout her career, she did not let those experiences limit her. Instead, she continued to pursue her passion, and cemented her place in American history.

Her sheer tenacity and undeniable contributions to the fashion industry paved the way for modern, Black-made fashion.

Caption: On the left, black and white photos of Jacqueline Kennedy in her wedding dress designed by Ann Lowe. On the right, a sentence with white and blue words within a white square.

Photo Credits

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Content Sources

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture: https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/ann-lowe

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture: https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/ann-lowe-fashion-icon

The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/29/ann-lowes-barrier-breaking-mid-century-couture

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/alth/hd_alth.htm