TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Ann Rowe was the first Black fashion designer to receive international recognition and began her career designing dresses for Gasparilla.
Born in Clayton, Alabama in 1898, Ann Rowe learned to sew from her mother and grandmother. From an early age, she loved to use scraps to create flowers that resembled those in her family’s garden, which would later become her signature designs.
Rowe began sewing at age 5. In 1916, at age 18, she moved to Tampa after local socialite Josephine Edward Lee met Rowe by chance in a New York department store. Lee loved Rowe’s clothes and the way they were made.
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“Mrs. Lee had a large family here and she needed someone to make clothes for them, so she invited Ann to come with her to Florida and provided a residence for her in her home,” said Susan Carter, curator of the Henry B. Plant Museum.
This changed Law’s life. After moving in and making clothes for Lee’s family, Law quickly became the go-to designer for Tampa’s elite. In 1924, she was chosen to design dresses for Gasparilla, three of which are on display as part of the Gasparilla Collection at the Henry B. Plant Museum.
Two of the three dresses are part of the Gasparilla Collection at the Henry B. Plant Museum.
“Every now and then we come across a treasure like the Ann Lowe dress,” Carter said, “It started out as one, the museum association got one from a member, and then we got two more, all Gasparilla-related.”
One was made for Gasparilla Queen Sarah Lykes Keller in 1924. The dress features Rowe’s famous flowers. Another was made in 1926 and worn by Catherine Broadus. The third is a silk dress with tulle flowers and pearls that was worn by Rebecca Davis Smith in 1957 for a Gasparilla event called the Jewel Circle.
“It was an even bigger deal then. She was living, working, designing and making money designing costumes for Gasparilla,” Andrew Brown said.
Brown, co-owner of fashion and art brand The Paper Bar, has studied Rowe’s contributions to the area.
“She was asked to work with Christian Dior in the ’40s and she said, ‘I’d love to do that, but in America,'” Brown says. “If she hadn’t been in Tampa, she wouldn’t be who she is today.”
Brown, the company’s director of education, has taught several students about Rowe; in fact, he and partner Jason Radcliffe had students interpret a 1947 Oscar dress that Rowe created for Olivia de Havilland. They presented the final designs, mood boards, and illustrations at a fundraiser in 2021.
After a few years in Tampa, Rowe moved to New York to attend St. Taylor School of Design. When she arrived, she was not welcomed by the principal because of her race. In fact, Rowe was segregated from her classmates because they did not want a black woman in the same room.
Despite the discrimination, Low’s design abilities were far superior to her classmates. Her designs were used as examples of excellent work by other students. Due to her skill level and ability, she graduated from the program in half the time required.
Rowe went on to design clothes for major design houses, celebrities, and royalty. Rowe designed Jacqueline Kennedy’s wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses. In fact, when she went to deliver the dresses, she was asked to enter through the back door because of her race, but she refused.
Lowe did not receive the recognition he deserved because of the color of his skin and America’s racial climate.
“Ann didn’t label her clothes, nobody knew about her. She was just a black woman who designed clothes, and she was just a fashion seamstress,” Carter said. “She didn’t get a lot of attention.”
This lack of recognition meant that Lowe was not properly compensated for his work and led to him filing for bankruptcy multiple times.
Rowe was the first black fashion designer to receive international recognition without ever having received flowers, but now her flowers and designs are internationally known and exhibited in museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institution and the Henry B. Plant Museum.
Lowe’s dress will be on display at the Plant Museum until March 5th.
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