Ann Lowe

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ann Cole Lowe , also Annie Cohen (born December 14, 1898 in Clayton , Alabama , † February 25, 1981 in Queens , New York ), was an American fashion designer and the first African -American woman to achieve fame as a fashion designer. Her designs were particularly popular among high society women . She gained fame as the designer of the ivory-colored wedding dress of Jacqueline Kennedy at her wedding to John F. Kennedy in 1953.

Live and act

Ann Lowe was born the great-granddaughter of a slave and a plantation owner and grew up with her older sister. Her mother and grandmother worked as seamstresses for wealthy families in Montgomery, Alabama, with Ann Lowe helping. They recognized Ann's talent very early on. When Lowe was 16 years old, her mother died. At the time, she had just been working on four ball gowns for Elizabeth Kirkman O'Neal, the wife of the governor of Alabama. Using the talent and skills Ann Lowe had learned from her mother and grandmother, she finished the dresses.

In her teens, she married the older Lee Cohen and gave birth to their son Arthur Lee. For a short time she complied with her husband's wish to give up sewing. When she was hired by a woman from Florida to make a wedding dress and gowns for her daughters, she took the chance and traveled to Florida. The couple separated.

In 1917 Lowe moved to New York City with her son, where she began training at ST Taylor Design School . Due to racist prejudice against black people, her fellow students refused, so she completed the training quickly and in individual lessons. After graduating in 1919, she left with her son New York to again in Tampa ( Florida to live). There Lowe opened a fashion salon under the name "Annie Cohen" and worked for women of the upper class. After saving $ 20,000 on her earnings, she returned to New York City in 1928 and worked on commission for luxury department stores such as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue . She received business support from her son.

In 1946 she designed the dress that Olivia de Havilland wore at the Academy Awards for Best Actress for Mother's Heart ; however, the robe bore the label of Sonia Rosenberg.

Because Lowe received little attention as a fashion designer, she and her son opened a second salon on Lexington Avenue in New York under the name "Ann Lowe's Gowns", which attracted wealthy high society customers. The Saturday Evening Post later called Lowe "society's best-kept secret." Throughout her career, Lowe has been known to be very picky about her clients. Several generations of famous families like the Auchinclosses, Rockefellers , Lodges, Du Ponts and Biddles belonged to it.

In 1953 she was commissioned to design the wedding dress of the future First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier and the dresses for her bridesmaids for the wedding to then Senator John F. Kennedy. Lowe had been chosen by Janet Auchincloss, the mother of Jacqueline Bouvier. She had previously commissioned Lowe to design the wedding dress she wore to Hugh D. Auchincloss in 1942. Lowe's dress for Jacqueline Bouvier consisted of fifty yards of "ivory-colored silk taffeta with woven ribbons that form the bodice and similar tucks in large, circular patterns that curve around the entire skirt." The dress cost $ 500 and was described in detail in coverage of the wedding while no public recognition was given to the designer.

However, her creativity could not lead to economic success. Throughout her career, Lowe worked for a wealthy clientele who often talked her out of asking higher prices for her designs. After paying her employees, she was often unable to make a profit on her creations. Lowe later admitted that she was practically broke at the height of her career. In 1962, she lost her New York City salon after failing to pay taxes.

In the same year, her right eye was removed for glaucoma . While she was recovering from the procedure, an anonymous friend paid Lowe's debt, which allowed her to return to work afterward. Soon after, a cataract developed in her left eye, but surgery could save it.

In 1968 she opened a new store, Ann Lowe Originals, on Madison Avenue. In 1972 Lowe retired.

Private

Lowe was married twice. Her son Arthur Lee, who worked as Lowe's business partner until his death in 1958, came from her marriage to Lee Cohen, whom she married in 1912. The marriage to Lee Cohen had failed because Cohen had opposed her career. Lowe married a second time, but that marriage also ended in divorce.

At the end of life, she was supported by her so-called “adopted daughter,” Ruth Alexander, a long-time employee in whose Queens home Ann Lowe had lived for the last five years and who died on February 25, 1981.

Honor

Five designs by Ann Lowe are in the costume department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art . Three are on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC . Several designs were included in an exhibition on black fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan in December 2016.

Works

  • Gerri Major: Dean of American Designers. In: Ebony. 12/1966.
  • Barbara M. Starke, Lillian O. Holloman, Barbara K. Nordquist: African American Dress and Adornment: A Cultural Perspective. Kendall Hunt, Dubuque 1990, ISBN 978-0-8403-5902-5 .
  • Jay Mulvaney: Kennedy Weddings: A Family Album. St. Martin's Press, New York City 1999, ISBN 978-0-312-24208-4 .
  • Pat Kirkham: Women Designers in the USA, 1900-2000: Diversity and Difference. Yale University Press, New Haven 2002, ISBN 978-0-300-09331-5 .
  • Jan Pottker: Janet and Jackie: The Story of a Mother and Her Daughter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. St. Martin's Press, New York City 2001, ISBN 978-0-312-26607-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c fashion designer Ann Lowe dies. In: Daytona Beach Morning Journal. February 28, 1981, accessed February 18, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b Fashion Designer dies at 82. In: Wilmington Morning Star. February 28, 1981, accessed February 18, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Pat Kirkham: Women Designers in the USA, 1900-2000: Diversity and Difference . Yale University Press, New Haven 2000, pp. 128 (English).
  4. ^ A b c Lizabeth Gray: Black History Month: She designed bridal gown for future first lady. In: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 3, 1998, accessed February 18, 2020 .
  5. ^ A b Gerri Major: Dean of American Designers . In: Ebony . Johnson Publishing, Chicago December 1966 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed February 18, 2020]).
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g Raquel Laneri: Why Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress designer was fashion's 'best kept secret'. In: New York Post. October 16, 2016, accessed on February 18, 2020 .
  7. ↑ a b c Timothy M. Phelps: Ann Lowe, 82, Designed Gowns for Exclusive Clientele in Society. In: New York Times . March 1, 1981, accessed February 19, 2020 .
  8. ↑ January Pottker: Janet and Jackie: The Story of a Mother and Her Daughter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis . St. Martin's Press, New York 2001, ISBN 978-0-312-26607-3 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Lowe, Ann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cohen, Annie; Lowe, Ann Cole
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American fashion designer
DATE OF BIRTH December 14, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Clayton , Alabama , United States
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 1981
Place of death Queens , New York City , New York , United States