Known as society's best kept secret, Anne Lowe is an African-American unsung fashion designer whose name will go down in history for designing Jacqueline Bouvier's wedding gown when she married John F. Kennedy in 1953; however, she also designed for other top society families such as the du Ponts, Roosevelts, Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts.
Anne was born in Alabama in 1898 and comes from a line of seamstresses. Her mother and grandmother designed for the first ladies of Alabama. She moved to New York and enrolled in S.T. Taylor Design School; and later worked as a commissioned designer for some major fashion houses where they took all the credit for Anne's work and her name was never mentioned.
Olivia de Havilland, Best Actress for To Each His Own in 1946, wore a pale blue appliquéd gown designed by none other than Anne Lowe.
Let's keep Anne Lowe's legacy alive by sharing her story with the world so that aspiring fashion designers will be aware of her fabulous contributions; her fashions can be seen in a permanent collection at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, Washington D.C's Black Fashion Museum and the Smithsonian.
I have to admit, I had never heard of Anne Lowe until a few months ago. Has anyone ever heard of this designer? If so, when and where?
