• Wearable Art: This is why you need to know about Ann Lowe

• • Art for Progress
  • Education Program
  • Fashion
  • Fashion Designer
  • Non Profit
  • Visual Arts
  • Wearable Art
• 8 years ago
• On September 24, the National African American Museum opened its doors to public. And while the museum's timed passes are sold out for the rest of the year,  it's still a great time to learn about what's currently on exhibit. And if you are wondering if there's a showcase at the museum that relates to the world of fashion, you're in luck. The museum will be showcasing a selection of Ann Lowe's dresses, and they are a must-see! Ann Lowe — a highly sought after designer in her day —  is the first world-renowned black designer who created dresses for socialites and brides. She created looks for families including the Auchinclosses, DuPonts, Kennedys, Posts, Rockefellers, and Roosevelts. She is also the first black designer to own a boutique on Madison Avenue. And her stunning creations were also sold at Henri Bendel, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus. Pink satin and organza ball gown, designed by Ann Lowe, 1959, once owned by Patricia Penrose Schieffer, wife of CBS News' Bob Schieffer. Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane. Photo courtesy of NMAAHC Famously, Lowe designed Jacqueline Kennedy's wedding gown in 1953. Lowe crafted a dress made up of fifty yards of ivory silk taffeta for the Bouvier-Kennedy nuptials, and cost approximately $700  — roughly $13,000 factoring today's inflation, according to Racked's Danielle Kwateng-Clark . And as Kwateng-Clark deftly sums up, Lowe "did the impossible in the Jim Crow-era by making a name fo[...]
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