We have been contributing to the fashion industry for centuries!
It’s no secret that mainstream culture is black culture, and more importantly, black style is the foundation on which all that is cool exists. Yet, while many conveniently choose to leave that part out and rebrand innate style with new terms, we will never forget. While fashion rock stars like Kanye West and the late Virgil Abloh may seem like supernovae, the truth is that they exist thanks to a long lineage of fashion pioneers and matriarchs. Black fashion magic is not a new concept, and fashion gurus like Karlana Barfield and Samantha Black are able to operate largely because of legends like Andre Leon Talley.
While fashion pioneers like Dapper Dan were forgotten by gatekeepers for decades, others like Sean “Diddy” Combs stepped up to fill their absence. This intentionality, along with the help of social media’s long-term memory, eventually led to a resurgence of the OGs. Now, brands like Daps and Karl Kani are back in the spotlight, allowing a new generation to add their flowers to them.
It’s impossible to know where we’re going without knowing where we’ve been. It is our pledged duty to keep our readers up to date on Black excellence – past, present and future. In honor of that promise, we present, courtesy of L’Officiel, a list of 8 Black designers who have forever changed the history of fashion.
Elizabeth Keckley
Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, circa 1861. Photo courtesy of Moorland-Spigharn Research Center/Howard University
Born in Virginia, Keckley was born a slave. Eventually, she found work as a seamstress and made history by traveling the country making dresses; as a dress designer and as an aide to Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln and former First Lady. According to the White House History magazine, Keckley bought her freedom with the money she made as a seamstress and donations from donors. In 1868, she published her memoirs, Behind the Scenes or Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House. She reflected on her life and success as a seamstress, becoming one of the most influential women in Washington, D.C., and later giving insight into the lives of free and enslaved black women of the time.
Zelda Win Valdes
Zelda Win Valdés. Photo courtesy of Ebony/L’Officiel
Born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania in 1905, Zelda Wynn Valdez began learning from her grandmother, who worked as a seamstress, and her uncle, who was a tailor, reports Black Past. She rose through the ranks as a warehouse worker in various boutiques, and finally opened her own store in 1948 at age 47. Chez Zelda became the first black-owned boutique on Broadway in Manhattan. Valdez worked as fashion and costume designer for many notable clients, including Ella Fitzgerald, Maria Cole (wife of Nat King Cole), Josephine Baker, Ruby Dee, Eartha Kitt, and Marian Anderson. In 1949, Valdez was elected president of the New York chapter of the National Association of Fashion and Accessory Designers. NAFAD is an association of black designers founded by education activist Mary McLeod Bethune.
Ruby Bailey
Ruby Bailey. Photo courtesy Museum of the City of New York/Ruby Bailey Foundation
Ruby Bailey was a contemporary of Valdes, and both were integral to the growth of NAFAD. According to Harlem World, the Bermuda-born designer was a Harlem socialite known for a variety of creative endeavors, from theater to visual arts. But Bailey’s design aesthetic, widely known for bold prints and daring designs, set her apart. Bailey’s embellished prints, like her famous “Bugs” cocktail dress worn at the Savoy Ballroom from 1953 to 1954, would forever change the trajectory of avant-garde fashion.
Anne Law
Ann Rowe. Photo courtesy of the Tallahassee Democrat
Ann Rowe came from a long line of seamstresses, her mother an expert embroiderer and her grandmother a former slave seamstress. According to the NMAAHC report, Rowe was taught to sew by these two women by the age of five. Born in Alabama, Rowe eventually moved to Florida, where she worked as a live-in dressmaker for Tampa socialite Josephine Edwards Lee. She eventually traveled to New York to take classes, and returned to Florida to open a shop, catering to the demand for ball gowns, cotillion outfits, and other formal wear. Rowe eventually hired and trained 18 seamstresses, opened her own store, Annie Cohn Boutique, and continued to operate, becoming the first black woman to become a prominent fashion designer and maintaining her connections to high society. When Jacqueline Bouvier married John F. Kennedy in 1953, Rowe designed her wedding dress, but it did not receive the coverage it deserved because of her race. Rowe later opened another store, Ann Rowe Originals. Her work is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Jay Jackson
Jay Jackson in Paris circa 1972. Photo courtesy of ZUMA Press/Alamy
Born Eugene Jackson on August 30, 1941, Jay Jackson was the son of a Long Island Railroad worker and a housekeeper, according to a New York Times report. Like many, he began his career in New York by collecting fabrics on Jamaica Street and making clothes at home. He graduated from FIT in 1966 and sold his designs at stores such as Henri Bendel and Bonneville Teller. He eventually moved to Paris, where he became a pioneer of French-made couture. Jackson worked for Parisian fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior, creating both couture and ready-to-wear ensembles. He returned to New York in the mid-’70s and launched his own luxury sportswear collection. He eventually moved to Los Angeles, where he designed clothes for performers, including the suit worn by Annie Lennox at the 1984 Grammy Awards.
Patrick Kelly
Patrick Kelly. Photo by Frédéric Legrand/Gamma Raffo/Getty Images/Philadelphia Museum of Art
Patrick Kelly was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and learned his love of fashion from his mother and grandmother, reports FIT NYC. He studied fine art and African-American history at Jackson State University for two years before moving to Atlanta in 1974. There, he volunteered to design window displays for Yves Saint Laurent boutiques, eventually moving to New York and enrolling at Parsons School of Design. Frustrated by the lack of support he received at Parsons, Kelly moved to Paris in 1979. There, he became known for his celebratory pop culture references and his ability to make racist tropes and iconography recognizable during his shows. Kelly made history as the first American to be accepted into the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de Mode. Today, his work continues as a framework for using fashion as a means to address racial issues.
Willie Smith
Willie Smith circa 1981. Photo by Kim Steele/Aperture
Born in Philadelphia in 1948, Willie Smith began his career as an intern for couturier Arnold Scaasi, The Guardian reports. Smith’s grandmother was a housekeeper for Scaasi’s clients, and it’s believed she played a role in his getting the job. He then went on to Parsons, where he sought to develop a design aesthetic that combined everyday wear with fine tailoring. Born a contemporary of Kelly and Jackson, Smith is part of a large group of black designers who rose to fame in the 70s and 80s. Widely credited as the inventor of streetwear, Smith is easily considered one of the most successful black designers of the time. In 1976, he founded Williewear Limited, which achieved sales of $25 million by 1986. His style gained popularity in the 80s with the rise of hip-hop culture. In 1963, his fall collection, “Street Couture,” was one of the first to feature both musical and dance performances. That same year, Smith made history by becoming the youngest person ever to win the American Fashion Critics Association’s Women’s Fashion Award. Smith’s ability to make clothing not only accessible but affordable has helped to push for a more inclusive society.
Stephen Burrows
Photo by Stephen Burrows/Custom Collaborative/FIT NYC
Stephen Burrows was born in Newark, New Jersey, and both of his grandparents worked in the garment district, reports FIT NYC. He graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1966 and developed his own unique aesthetic. Inspired by the movement and disco, Burrows worked with lightweight jersey fabrics and used expert sewing techniques to create zigzag hems. The result was the “lettuce effect,” which became Burrows’ trademark. Curled hems added extra flair, and Burrows’ loose, relaxed pieces set American fashion apart from its Paris counterpart. In 1973, he was one of only five American designers to take part in the “Battle of Versailles” fashion show, a showdown between American and French designers that changed the course of fashion. Pat Cleveland, one of the first black supermodels, appeared in Burrows’ show, and his skills became world famous. Burrows went on to become the first black designer to win the Coty Award. He also has a star on the Fashion Walk of Fame and was the recipient of the Andre Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award and the Pratt Institute Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Burroughs’ contributions to American fashion were the subject of a 2013 retrospective at the Museum of the City of New York, “Stephen Burroughs: When Fashion Danced.”
This is just a small part of our design history, but there are so many more Black designers making history every day. When you know what’s possible, the sky is the limit. We can’t wait to support the next generation of fashion’s best and brightest!
Black designers who changed fashion history forever. Photo credit: Ebony/L’Officiel/ZUMA Press/Alamy/Museum of the City of New York/Ruby Bailey Foundation
