Black St. Louisans have shaped the city’s fashion industry for more than a century.
Formerly enslaved Elizabeth Keckley made dresses for socialites and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln in the mid-1800s, and Louise Dunn made dresses for women of color in St. Louis in 1960. Opened a charm and model school for the.
The influence of St. Louis blacks on fashion did not end with Keckley and Dunn. Thursday’s Missouri Historical Society program will celebrate the living history of black fashion in St. Louis and the beginning of Black History Month. The event, held at the Missouri History Museum, will run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will feature a panel discussion and trunk show with local designers working to revitalize the city’s once-booming fashion industry.
The program will feature a conversation between master tailor and designer Raymond Dennis and Meldine Fielding Gales, who worked on the Ebony Fashion Fair. Local fashion entrepreneurs will also discuss the challenges and rewards of working in the industry and what Black fashion means today.
“The stories of enslavement and the struggle for freedom that are part of St. Louis’ long tradition of suffering are important, and we want to highlight the stories that tell about Black history through Black culture,” Historical Program Expert said Shron Jones. Society’s African American History Initiative.
Jones said Black St. Louis’ contributions to modeling, design and business are noteworthy, and sharing their history could inspire a new generation of fashion insiders in the region.
St. Louis fashion expert and panelist AK Brown said you don’t have to leave St. Louis to make a name for yourself in the fashion world.
“I don’t think you need to go to New York or Los Angeles or even Chicago,” Brown said. “From my 9-to-5 job to my business or even just my personal brand, I’m very lucky to be able to say that everything has a synergistic effect when it comes to fashion. And through my own journey, I’m here to help. It shows others that you don’t have to leave here to figure it out.”
Brown, who also teaches fashion at the Stevens Institute of Business & Art, uses her brand to raise awareness for Black designers in St. Louis and others in the industry. Brown said that if more stories are shared about the history of St. Louis’ black fashion scene, it could inspire more industry trendsetters today and build on St. Louis’ heritage.
“I think we make a huge contribution to fashion, both locally and nationally,” she said. “We just need to work on visibility to really show what we’ve done in the past and what we’ll continue to contribute to the industry as we know it in the future.”
