Change is a constant, and with change comes change agents, the pathfinders, those who we name as the ‘first’. Black fashion creators, influencers, and barrier breaking events have been largely overlooked and historically marginalized as vital contributors to the history of fashion. They have been excluded from the dominant Western narrative that encompasses art, culture, and academic institutions. While this study presents a comprehensive view, it does not encompass the entirety of the rich history of vital contributors and events.
We explore these celebrated ‘firsts’, including trailblazers like couturiers Ann Cole Lowe, Hylan Booker, and Jay Jaxon, alongside transformative milestones such as the debut of Black mannequins in department stores, the establishment of The National Association of Fashion and Accessory Designers, and the groundbreaking event that revolutionized global fashion, The Battle of Versailles. Many narratives are piecing together by experts in this realm, which are offered in the section “Sources, Suggested Further Reading”.
Early Pioneers
Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley [1818-1907]
Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley is best known as First Lady Mary Lincoln’s dressmaker and confidant. Keckley made 16-17 gowns the first Spring that she was working for Lincoln.
Fannie Criss Payne [1866 -1942]
Fannie Criss Payne was considered Richmond, Virginia’s premier dressmaker of the early 20th century. In January 1904, the Black-run magazine The Voice of the Negro, profiled Payne, noting: “The finest dressmaker in Richmond, regardless of color, is Mrs. Fannie Criss Payne. Her list of patrons is made up of the best white families in Richmond. So great is their confidence in her ability and taste that many leave to her the selection of their entire outfits. In the last six months she has made the trousseaus for the most popular brides.”
Elizabeth Way, historian and curator for The Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology, speaks highly of her work, “it was the best quality clothing that these women could get anywhere outside of Paris. She was really a skilled couturiere.” Criss Payne eventually moved to New York, as many Blacks migrated from the South due to color barriers. There she built a thriving practice designing for wealthy Black women, Broadway stars, and movie actresses like Gloria Swanson.
Read also: Experience Fad's Fine African Cuisine
Ann Cole Lowe [1898-1981]
Ann Cole Lowe’s lifetime achievement and what she is famously known for is designing the wedding party dresses and the wedding gown worn by Jacqueline Bouvier, the future First Lady of the United States, for her marriage to John F. The most photographed and iconic wedding dress in American history. The wedding dress cost $500.
The story told by her niece, Dr. Anne Lowe fitting one of her designs on model Alice Baker at a fashion show, December 1962.
Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes [1901-2001]
Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes was both a fashion and costume designer. In 1948, Valdes was the first Black designer to open her own shop, “Zelda Wynn”, and claims being the first Black-owned business on Broadway in New York City. Her designs have been worn by famous entertainers such as Dorothy Dandridge, Joyce Bryant, Marian Anderson, Josephine Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Mae West, Ruby Dee, Eartha Kitt, and Sarah Vaughan, among others.
A native of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Zelda Wynn Valdes was a costume and fashion designer. She was reared in a rural working-class community. Her father was a cook, and her mother was a homemaker. As a young child, Wynn observed her mother and grandmother who were both highly skilled dressmakers and it sparked a passion for dressmaking. In addition to her talents as a dressmaker, Wynn was also a trained classical pianist. She graduated from the Catholic Conservatory of Music in the 1920’s. Afterwards, she and her family moved to White Plains, NY where she began working in her uncle’s tailoring shop.
By 1948, Wynn had opened her own business, Zelda Wynn on Broadway in New York City. She began designing for socialites and celebrities alike, including Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt, Mae West, Ella Fitzgerald, Dorothy Dandridge, and Edna Mae Robinson. During this time Wynn and other African American designers found it difficult to gain access to the resources of the fashion industry, which was an exclusive organization of wealthy whites. In 1949 she became president of the National Association of Fashion and Accessories Designers (NAFAD), which had been founded by the Jeanetta Welch Brown and Mary McLeod Bethune that same year.
Read also: The Story Behind Cachapas
Zelda Wynn continued to make strides in fashion, developing a reputation as a leading designer. Her work eventually drew the attention of Hugh Hefner, owner of the Playboy empire that included a chain of national supper clubs that catered to men. Wynn has been credited with designing the first Playboy Bunny costumes worn by the waitresses at the clubs. The historical evidence seems to indicate that multiple people were involved in the design of the costume.
Beginning in the 1970’s, Wynn worked as the lead costume designer for the famed Dance Theatre of Harlem, spearheaded by Arthur Mitchell. Her roles (designing costumes, touring with the group, and selling posters) demonstrated her dedication and support for the Dance Theater of Harlem.
In this lustrous nonfiction picture book biography, meet Black fashion icon and design pioneer Zelda Wynn Valdes, whose dresses, gowns, and costumes helped make people shine. A fun read to inspire young ones to sew!
Mildred Blount [1907-1974]
Mildred Blount, milliner, is famously recognized for her costume work for major film studios, in particular, the iconic film Gone With the Wind (1939), although she was not credited for her work. She is also noted for an impressive list of famous clientele, including Marian Anderson, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, and Gloria Vanderbilt. Her talent took notice when she exhibited 87 miniature hats from the period 1680 to 1937, at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, which has defined the core of her legacy.
Blount became the first African American member of the Motion Pictures Costumers Union. Selznick International Pictures, SIP publicity photo of John Frederics with two hats, 1939, who was hired as the milliner to the cast of Gone With the Wind. Mildred Blount, a milliner for Frederics, created most of the hats for the film, although the credit line went to her employer.
Read also: Techniques of African Jewellery
Rosa Parks [1913-2005]
Numerous enslaved and free women significantly contributed to the evolution of the American fashion system. While they earned their livelihoods through dressmaking, Rosa Parks [1913-2005], Harriet Jacobs [1813-1897], Margaret Mahammitt Hagan [1826-1914], and Eliza Ann Gardner [1831-1922], who was a cousin of W.E.B. Rosa Parks is renowned for her arrest on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955, where she refused to give up her seat to a white man.
… I did not spend a lot of time planning what to wear, but I remember very clearly that I wore a straight, long-sleeved black dress with a white collar and cuffs, a small black velvet hat with pearls across the top, and a charcoal-gray coat. I carried a black purse and wore white gloves. I was not especially nervous. A momentous occasion and her recollection of what she wore after 36 years symbolizes how the power of fashion can communicate the character of a person and representation of a community (in this example of Jim Crow South, it was necessary), while commanding respect and dignity. Yes, she ‘knew what to do’.
The Rise of Black Designers on Seventh Avenue
Scott Barrie [1946-1993]
Scott Barrie was among a dynamic peer group of emerging Black designers, Stephen Burrows, Jeffrey Banks, Alvin Bell, Jon Haggins, and Willi Smith, who were able to build on the foundational work of Black fashion makers of previous decades, such as Ann Lowe and Zelda Wynn, and become known names on Seventh Avenue. Inspired by the couturier Madame Grès, his popular designs, primarily made with Jasco matte jersey, helped to create the look of 1970s New York.
Stephen Burrows [born 1943]
Stephen Burrows was the first Black designer to receive a Coty American Fashion Critics’ Award in 1973. The brilliant colors, signature lettuce-leaf hem, and uninhibited body-conscious designs of Stephen Burrows stunned the French at the Battle of Versailles Fashion Show, 1973, hosted by France’s Palace of Versailles. It was the first time American designers (Burrows, the only Black designer out of five American designers) were invited by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, the governing body for the French fashion industry, and his career was forever immortalized in fashion history by this invitation-he was the most talked-about designer.
Out of 36 American models, 10 were African American, who projected their personal charisma, dance-performance movements, and enlivenment that electrified the audience. The American runway was a display of seduction with ease and freedom against a minimal stage design, in contrast to the grandeur French traditional, elaborate sets, and theatrical-style presentation.
Stephen Burrows at the Battle of Versailles Fashion Show, 1973
Hylan Booker [born 1938]
Mr. Hylan Booker became the first Black couturier in Europe. In 1968, Detroit-born Booker was named head designer of the famed “first” couturier, Charles Fredrick Worth, the House of Worth, founded in London in 1857.
Jay Jaxon [1941-2006]
Jay Jaxon was one of the first African Americans to work in a high-profile position in the Parisian fashion industry.
Arthur McGee [1933-2019]
Arthur McGee, in 1957, broke new ground as the first known Black designer to run a design studio of an established Seventh Avenue apparel company, Bobbie Brooks. Inspired by his mother, who was a dressmaker and lover of hats, he studied apparel design and millinery at the Fashion Institute of Technology. While there, he worked for the American couturier Charles James.
Frustrated by the industry’s pervasive barriers, he chose to leave FIT, asserting, “I quit [FIT] because they told me, ‘There are no jobs for a Black designer.” Undeterred by these obstacles, McGee ultimately developed his own designs which were sold at Bloomingdale’s, Bonwit Teller, Lord & Taylor, Henri Bendel, and Bergdorf Goodman.
McGee was a trailblazer in the world of fashion and his contributions to fashion cannot be erased. In the mid-1950s he was the first African American to operate the design room of a major manufacturer, (Bobby Brooks) on Seventh Ave. Further, his contributions continue to live on through other designers of color whom he mentored, like Dr. Aziza Braithwaithe Bey.
Arthur McGee was born in Detroit, MI. At the age of 18, he won a design competition and scholarship from Traphagen School of Fashion in New York and relocated to the city. He later attended the Fashion Institute of Technology’s millinery department for about six months. During the 1950s and 1960s he had a successful career as a designer. This was true even though he constantly faced racism and exclusion in an industry where he was one of only a few African American designers. In the 1960s he opened his own shop on one of America’s most popular streets-St. His designs had a national appeal. According to Dr. Aziza Bey, McGee lived and worked in Miami during the 1970s.
Willi Smith [1948-1987]
Willi Smith was considered to be the first African American designer to be the most commercially successful reaching a broad ready-to-wear audience and mainstream retail channels. He was revolutionary in creating seasonless and gender-neutral clothing. Willi Smith, ca. J. in 1961, has a street in Newark, New Jersey, named after him. He created fashionable pieces for Diahann Carroll, designed gowns for opera diva Leontyne Price, sketched maternity ensembles for the late Jackie Kennedy-Onassis, and proposed a high-waisted sheath gown for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Inauguration wardrobe. His designs were known for elegance and exquisite construction and sold to I. Magnin, Henri Bendel, Neiman Marcus, B.
Smith was recognized for his groundbreaking innovations in sportswear. Smith’s grandmother, Gladys “Nana” Bush, was a housekeeper who worked for designer Arnold Scaasi. Nurturing her grandson’s love for fashion, she organized an internship for Smith with Scaasi. After high school Smith moved to New York City to study fashion design at Parsons until he left in 1967. Afterwards, Smith began working as lead designer for Digits, a junior sportswear label. In 1972, his work with Digits was nominated for a COTY American Fashion Critics award.
WilliWear became the most successful fashion line by an African American designer. His streetwear designs garnered mainstream support because they appealed to people who were seeking comfortable and stylish clothes that could be worn for a variety of occasions. Smith passed away unexpectedly in 1987. At the time of his death, WilliWear was generating approximately $25 million in annual revenue sales. Smith’s longtime business partner, Laurie Mallet continued with the company using other designers to create collections. Smith was such an integral part of the company that by 1990, the brand was forced to close.
Models and Fashion Icons
In March 1966, Donyale Luna [1945-1979] became the first African American model to grace the cover of the British edition of Vogue. Luna also became the first Black fashion icon, in 1967 her face and form inspired the first black mannequin. Her modeling career was launched in January 1965 when Harper’s Bazaar featured a line-drawing sketch of Luna on its cover, by the top editorial illustrator, Katharina Denzinger.
Naomi Ruth Sims, [1948-2009], is widely credited as the first African-American supermodel. A businesswoman and author, Sims was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of Ladies’ Home Journal, November 1968, and Life Magazine, October 1969.
Beverly Johnson [born 1952] is a model, actress, singer, and businesswoman who is famously known as the first African American model on the cover of American Vogue in 1974.
Martinique-born Mounia Orosename made history on the Haute Couture runways in the 1970s and 80s, and was Yves Saint Laurent’s first Black muse. It’s a tradition for a muse to open and close a runway show.
Organizations and Institutions
The Coleman Manufacturing Company (1899-1904) was the first African American owned and operated cotton textile mill.
Ophelia De Vore-Mitchell [1921-2014], one of the first African American models in America in 1938 at the age of sixteen, who founded Grace Del Marco Model Agency and the Ophelia De Vore School of Self-Development and Modeling in New York City in the 1940’s, paved the way for models of color.
Dorothy Towles Church [1922-2006] was the first Black student at Los Angeles’ Dorothy Farrier Charm and Modeling School and the first Black model accepted into the world’s top fashion houses in Paris, which started when one of Christian Dior’s house models was on vacation.
The National Association of Fashion and Accessory Designers (NAFAD) was founded by Mary McCleod Bethune-Cookman (founder of the National Council of Negro Women) and Jeanetta Welch Brown in 1949 in New York City.
Eunice Johnson [1916-2010] was co-founder of the Chicago, Illinois-based Johnson Publishing Company, publisher of Jet and Ebony magazines, and founded Ebony Fashion Fair. Ebony Fashion Fair, which began its five-decade run in 1958, brought fashion to Black society. It was significant in advancing Black culture’s importance in the American story of fashion, and its empowering effect on the Black community.
Lois K. Alexander-Lane [1916-2007] founded the Harlem Institute of Fashion in 1966 and Black Fashion Museum in 1979.
The New York Times reported that during the early 1960s, the United States witnessed, for the first time, the introduction of Black mannequins in department stores. “A leading American mannequin manufacturer delivered the first Negro mannequin to a large New York area store-Bamberger’s (owned by Macy’s), Newark … Rich’s, a large Atlanta department store chain, placed an order for Negro mannequins. Chicago’s South Center Department Store was known as America’s largest Black-owned department store, when owner S.B.
Contemporary Designers
Creatives of colors have the potential to inspire unique trends, create dynamic fashion subcultures, and challenge the status quo. The importance of creatives of color goes beyond diversifying design aesthetics.
Among the Black designers showcasing their work is LaQuan Smith. Mentee of Andre Leon Talley, Smith is a luxury fashion designer based in New York.
Diotima is among the notable brands showcasing at fashion week. Diotima, founded in 2021, is designed and crafted in Jamaica and New York, illustrating the work of artisanal communities in Jamaica. The brand’s signature crochet designs are made in Jamaica, and “born out of the Jamaican diaspora during the Windrush era.” The breezy designs emphasize craftsmanship and demand a more expansive definition of luxury.
Bishme Cromartie is a self-taught fashion designer from Baltimore, Maryland first learning the basics of sewing from his aunt and then, upon acquiring his first sewing machine, went on to design clothes for friends and family.
New York designer, Frederick Anderson is returning with another bold collection, sure to usher in vibrant colors, artful textures and innovative concepts. In an interview with Park Magazine NY, Anderson stated, “When I do a collection, I have several layers. It’s never just one thing. It’s three to five different layers all the time.
Founded in 2015, House of Aama was born for the artistry of mother and daughter design duo, Rebecca Henry and Akua Shabaka.
Another designer showcasing at NYFW Fall/Winter 2024 is Sergio Hudson. Hudson’s luxury women’s ready-to-wear fashions have been seen on celebrities like Keke Palmer, Anne Hathaway, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Lastly, NYFW is also showcasing more unsung black designers through the Black in Fashion Council. The Black in Fashion Council, founded by Lindsay Peoples Wagner and Sandrine Charles, is a collective of fashion professionals aiming to build a new foundation for inclusivity in the fashion and beauty industries. The Council stemmed from “What It’s Like To Be Black In Fashion,” a critically-acclaimed article written by Peoples Wagner for New York Magazine, after research drove her to understand that elitism in fashion would only be rectified by systemic change.
Here some contemporary Black designers:
- Thebe Magugu
- Frederick Anderson
- Daily Paper
- Aliétte
- Pyer Moss
- Brother Vellies
- Telfar
- Romeo Hunte
- Cushnie
- LaQuan Smith
- Fenty, Savage X Fenty
- Christopher John Rogers
- Fe Noel
- Dapper Dan
- Andrea Iyamah
- Hanifa
- Mowalola Ogunlesi
- Wales Bonner
- Kenneth Ize
- Victor Glemaud
The Influence of Music and Culture
Many designers gain inspiration from art, culture, and nature. To this day, music continues to inspire trends in fashion and beauty.
