Born in Clayton, Alabama, Ann Lowe is considered to be one of America’s most influential clothing designers. She was taught to sew at the early age of five, by her mother and grandmother, skilled dressmakers, who created clothing for wealthy white families around the state. At the age of 6, Lowe had taken to collecting scraps to create flowers fashioned after the ones in her family’s garden, patterns that later became a part of her signature designs. While her exact age has always been unclear, her career took off after accepting a position as an in house gown maker in Florida. After completing design school in NYC, Lowe established a shop in Tampa, FL hiring 18 seamstresses. In addition to designs that showed up in Vogue and Academy Award shows, one of Lowe’s most historical pieces of work was that of Jacqueline Bouvier’s wedding dress worn in her wedding to Senator John F. Kennedy.
Ann Lowe: Black History Month Spotlight
