Ann Lowe

Ann Cole Lowe (December 14, 1898 – February 25, 1981) was an American fashion designer and the first African American to become a noted fashion designer.[1] Lowe's one-of-a-kind designs were a favorite among high society matrons from the 1920s to the 1960s. She was best known for designing the ivory silk taffeta wedding dress worn by Jacqueline Bouvier when she married John F. Kennedy in 1953.

Ann Lowe
Born
Ann Cole Lowe

1898
Clayton, Alabama, U.S.
DiedFebruary 25, 1981 (aged 82)
Queens, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesAnnie Cohen
Anne Lowe
Alma materS.T. Taylor Design School
OccupationFashion designer
Years active1919–1972
Known forWedding dress of Jacqueline Bouvier
Children2

Early life

Lowe was born in rural Clayton, Alabama in 1898.[2] She was the great granddaughter of an enslaved woman and an Alabama plantation owner.[3] She had an older sister, Sallie.[4] Lowe's interest in fashion, sewing and designing came from her mother Janey and grandmother Georgia,[5] both of whom worked as seamstresses for the first families of Montgomery and other members of high society. Lowe's mother died when Lowe was 16 years old. At the time of her death, Lowe's mother had been working on four ball gowns for the First Lady of Alabama, Elizabeth Kirkman O'Neal. Using the skills she learned from her mother and grandmother, Lowe finished the dresses.[6]

In 1912, she married Lee Cohen, with whom she had a son, Arthur Lee.[7] After her marriage, Lowe's husband wanted her to give up working as a seamstress. She complied for a time but left him after she was hired to design a wedding dress for a woman in Florida.[6][4]

Career

In 1917, Lowe and her son moved to New York City, where she enrolled at S.T. Taylor Design School.[1] As the school was segregated, Lowe was required to attend classes in a room alone.[8] After graduating in 1919, Lowe and her son moved to Tampa, Florida. The following year, she opened her first dress salon. The salon catered to members of high society and quickly became a success.[9] Having saved $20,000 from her earnings, Lowe returned to New York City in 1928.[10] For a time, she worked on commission for stores such as Henri Bendel, Chez Sonia, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue.[1][9] In 1946, she designed the dress that Olivia de Havilland wore to accept the Academy Award for Best Actress for To Each His Own, although the name on the dress was Sonia Rosenberg.[3]

Jacqueline Kennedy wearing the wedding dress Lowe designed after her marriage to John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1953

As she was not getting credit for her work, Lowe and her son opened a second salon, Ann Lowe's Gowns, in New York City on Lexington Avenue in 1950.[6][9][10] Her one-of-a-kind designs made from the finest fabrics were an immediate success and attracted many wealthy, high society clients.[9] Design elements for which she was known include fine handwork, signature flowers, and trapunto technique.[11] The Saturday Evening Post later called Lowe "society's best kept secret."[1][7] Throughout her career, Lowe was known for being highly selective in choosing her clientele. She later described herself as "an awful snob", adding: "I love my clothes and I'm particular about who wears them. I am not interested in sewing for cafe society or social climbers. I do not cater to Mary and Sue. I sew for the families of the Social Register."[12] Over the course of her career, Lowe created designs for several generations of the Auchincloss, Rockefeller, Lodge, Du Pont, Post, and Biddle families.[1][7]

In 1953, Janet Lee Auchincloss hired Lowe to design a wedding dress for her daughter, the future First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier, and the dresses for her bridal attendants for her September wedding to then-Senator John F. Kennedy.[13] Auchincloss also chose Lowe to design her own wedding dress for her marriage to Hugh D. Auchincloss in 1942.[2] Lowe's dress for Bouvier consisted of fifty yards of "ivory silk taffeta with interwoven bands of tucking forming the bodice and similar tucking in large circular designs swept around the full skirt."[13] The dress, which cost $500 (approximately $5,000 today), was described in detail in The New York Times's coverage of the wedding.[14][7] While the Bouvier-Kennedy wedding was a highly publicized event, Lowe did not receive public credit for her work.[15]

Throughout her career, Lowe continued to work for wealthy clientele who often talked her out of charging hundreds of dollars for her designs. After paying her staff, she often failed to make a profit on her designs. Lowe later admitted that at the height of her career, she was virtually broke.[7] In 1961 she received the Couturier of the Year award[16] but in 1962, she lost her salon in New York City after failing to pay taxes. That same year, her right eye was removed due to glaucoma. While she was recuperating, an anonymous friend paid Lowe's debts which enabled her to work again. In 1963 she declared bankruptcy. Soon after, she developed a cataract in her left eye; surgery saved her eye.[6] In 1968, she opened a new store, Ann Lowe Originals, on Madison Avenue.[7] She retired in 1972.[15]

Personal life

Lowe was married twice and had two children. She married her first husband, Lee Cohen, in 1912. They had a son, Arthur Lee, who later worked as Lowe's business partner until his death from a car accident[5] in 1958.[7] Lowe left Cohen because he opposed her having a career.[4] She married for a second time but that marriage also ended. Lowe later said, "My second husband left me. He said he wanted a real wife, not one who was forever jumping out of bed to sketch dresses."[8] Lowe later adopted a daughter, Ruth Alexander.[1]

In the 1930s, Lowe lived in an apartment on Manhattan Avenue in Harlem. Her older sister Sallie later lived with her. Both were members of St. Mark's United Methodist Church.[4]

Death

In the last five years of her life, Lowe lived with her daughter Ruth in Queens. She died at her daughter's home on February 25, 1981, after an extended illness.[17] Her funeral was held at St. Mark's United Methodist Church on March 3.[7]

Legacy

A collection of five of Ann Lowe's designs are held at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[15][18] Three are on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. Several others were included in an exhibition on black fashion at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan in December 2016.[19] A children's book, Fancy Party Gowns: The Story of Ann Cole Lowe written by Deborah Blumenthal was published in 2017.[20] Author Piper Huguley wrote a historical fiction novel about Lowe's life.[21][22]

Footnotes
  1. "Fashion designer Ann Lowe Dies". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. February 28, 1981. p. 4D. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  2. (Pottker 2013, p. 135)
  3. (Kirkham 2002, p. 128)
  4. (Major 1966, p. 140)
  5. Reed Miller, Rosemary E. (2002). Threads of time : the fabric of history : profiles of African American dressmakers, 1850-to the present. Washington, DC: Toast & Strawberries. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-9709731-0-8. OCLC 197076138.
  6. Gray, Lizabeth (February 3, 1998). "Let's Talk About: Black History Month". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. pp. G–6. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  7. Timothy M., Phelps (March 1, 1981). "Ann Lowe 82, Designed Gowns for Exclusive Clientele In Society". nytimes.com. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  8. (Major 1966, p. 138)
  9. (Aberjhani, West, Price 2003, p. 107)
  10. American Legacy, Volumes 4-5. RJR Communications. 1996. p. 38.
  11. Reed Miller, Rosemary E. (2002). Threads of time : the fabric of history : profiles of African American dressmakers, 1850-to the present. Washington, DC: Toast & Strawberries. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-9709731-0-8. OCLC 197076138.
  12. (Major 1966, p. 137)
  13. (Mulvaney 2002, p. 60)
  14. (Martin Starke, Holloman, Nordquist 1990, p. 138)
  15. "Fashion designer dies at 82". Star-News. February 28, 1981. p. 3B. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  16. Giddings, Valerie L., and Geraldine Ray (2010). "Trendsetting African American Designers". Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion. Bloomsbury Academic.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. "Dress designer Ann Lowe". Lakeland Ledger. February 28, 1981. p. 5C. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  18. (Pottker 2013, p. 136)
  19. "Why Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress designer was fashion's 'best kept secret'". New York Post. October 16, 2016.
  20. Bush, Elizabeth (2017). "Fancy Party Gowns: The Story of Ann Cole Lowe by Deborah Blumenthal". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 70 (5): 209–210. doi:10.1353/bcc.2017.0008. ISSN 1558-6766. S2CID 201782202.
  21. "Piper Huguley". Margie Lawson. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  22. "Publishers Marketplace: Log In". www.publishersmarketplace.com. Retrieved 2020-12-27.

References
  • Aberjhani; West, Sandra L.; Price, Clement Alexander (2003). Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 1-438-13017-1.
  • Kirkman, Pat, ed. (2000). Women Designers in the USA, 1900-2000: Diversity and Difference. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09331-4.
  • Major, Gerri (December 1966). "Dean Of American Designers". Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. 22 (2). ISSN 0012-9011.
  • Martin Starke, Barbara; Holloman, Lillian O.; Nordquist, Barbara K. (1990). African American Dress and Adornment: A Cultural Perspective. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. ISBN 0-840-35902-0.
  • Mulvaney, Jay (2002). Kennedy Weddings: A Family Album. Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-29160-4.
  • Pottker, Jan (2013). Janet and Jackie: The Story of a Mother and Her Daughter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-466-85230-3.
  • Way, Elizabeth. “Elizabeth Keckly and Ann Lowe: Recovering an African American Fashion Legacy That Clothed the American Elite.” Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, vol. 19, no. 1, Feb. 2015, pp. 115–141.
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