In honor of Black History Month, here are 5 iconic black fashion designers throughout history!
- Ann Lowe
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Anne Lowe, born in Alabama in 1898, is known as being one of the first noted African-American fashion designers. While her work was popular among many famous aristocrats, she still failed to get the full recognition she deserved and was referred to as, “society’s best-kept secret”. Her most iconic designs were worn by Jaqueline Kennedy on her wedding day and Olivia de Havilland at the 1946 Oscars where she won Best Actress.
- Zelda Wynn Valdes
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Zelda Wynn Valdes in a famous fashion designer of the 20th Century who is most well known for creating the original Playboy Bunny costume. She was raised in North Carolina but moved to White Plains, NY to work in her uncle’s tailoring shop before eventually working her way up to owning her own dress-making studio in Washington Heights. She sold dresses to many famous singers and movie stars, which led to Playboy’s Hugh Hefner asking her to design the iconic bunny costume.
- Willi Smith
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Willi Smith was one of the most successful and iconic fashion designers in the 1970s. Launched in 1976, his label WilliWear was the first to sell menswear and womenswear under the same label. Though short-lived due to Smith’s death in 1897, the brand grossed a total of 25 million dollars in sales in almost 10 years.
- Telfar Clemens
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Telfar Clemens was born in Queens, New York but spent time living in his parents’ native country of Liberia. In 2002, Clemens moved back to New York to pursue modeling and ended up creating his own label selling some of the first unisex designs marketing comfortable sportswear and simple designs.
- Robyn Rihanna Fenty
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More commonly known as pop singer Rihanna, she started out her career as a singer and actress and later reinvented her image and added fashion designer to her repertoire. In 2017, she launched her beauty and fashion brands “Fenty” that has been praised for promoting inclusivity and diversity through the chosen models and range of sizes sold.