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Ann Lowe - Nicole Chan

By Anonymous

Davis, N. 2018, March 12. Saturday Evening Post article profiling Ann Lowe.

Born out of Clayton, Alabama, Ann Lowe was a designer, dressmaker, seamstress, couturier, and businesswoman that was overlooked as an African-American fashion icon. With a grandmother that made clothes for her plantain mistress and a mother who specialized in embroidery, it was no surprise that fashion also ran in Ann Lowe's veins. As a kid, Lowe started her passion by taking scraps from her mother's business and transforming the fabric into flowers. Later on this would be a feature of Lowe's work. At the age of 16, Lowe's mother died and was left to take over her small family business. Amongst the queue of orders was a dress for the First Lady of Alabama that Lowe used to spark her design career. 

The talent shined through her work in the stitching, embroidery and design that gave way for her acceptance to New York's S.T. Taylor Design School. Throughout her studies, racial segregation kept her from learning tin the same space as her classmates. However, Lowe's work stood out amongst the class and became an example for the rest of the students. After earning her degree, she began her own business titled Ann Lowe's Gowns in Harlem. Her business catered particularly to the social elite and yet she charged almost nothing for her outstanding designs. Because of this, Lowe was given the title of Big Apple's "best kept secret."


Davis, N. 2018, March 12. Dress designed by Ann Lowe featuring flower embroidery.


Davis, N. 2018, March 12. Feature of Ann Lowe's designs with the hand sewn flowers and quality of materials used in the designs. 

After becoming acquainted with the families of the social elite, she was introduced to Janet Lee Bouvier whose daughter would soon come to wear Lowe's most acclaimed piece yet. Lowe was hired to make the dresses for all the bridesmaids in addition to the wedding gown. Having designed for many other members in the family, Lowe knew the style and type of gown that was desired. After a relentless eight weeks of working on the wedding gown, Lowe's workspace was flooded ruining all the dresses. In just five days, Lowe and her team had to repurchase expensive fabrics and remake all the gowns for the wedding. With the quality guaranteed in Lowe's work, the project ended up putting her into a hole of debt that she never told the wedding family. After the wedding, the gown was written about in almost every newspaper in the country. Yet when asked about the designer of the dress, Lowe was simply referred to as "a colored dressmaker." 


Bachrach. 2019, September 12. John F. Kennedy and bride Jacqueline Bouvier walking down the aisle wearing a gown designed by Ann Lowe.

Ann Lowe started paving the way for African American fashion design. Her ability to bridge enslaved dressmakers to independent commercial fashion designers was a breaking point in history. The success of Lowe's dresses were driven by the consistent white fashion style that she had to consistently incorporate. In response to the discrimination and abuse made throughout the century, Lowe had to participate in a movement amongst black women to appear lady-like to gain the respect that she deserved. Lowe was discredited throughout her career as a black women designer simply due to the color of her skin. In order for her work to truly be appreciated, she had to place aside her name and let the quality speak for itself. Despite having been segregated from her classmates in college and being hidden away by her elite clients, she solidified her status amongst a traditionally exclusive fashion system.


Works Cited:
Minutaglio, R. (2019, October 24). Ann Lowe Is the Little-Known Black Couturier Who Designed Jackie Kennedy's Iconic Wedding Dress. Retrieved June 8, 2020, from https://www.elle.com/fashion/a29019843/jackie-kennedy-wedding-dress-designer-ann-lowe/

Davis, N., & Grabowski, A. (2018, March 12). Sewing for joy: Ann Lowe. Retrieved June 8, 2020, from https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/lowe

Henderson, M. (2019). Ann Lowe: America's Overlooked Fashion Icon Finally Found. Retrieved June 8, 2020, from https://utampa.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11868/680/Henderson_RoyalRoad_3_2019_A.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y


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