Ann Cole Lowe made history as the first African American fashion designer to gain widespread recognition. Her stunning, one-of-a-kind designs became favorites of wealthy and socially prominent women from the 1920s through the 1960s. Perhaps her most famous creation was the ivory silk taffeta wedding dress she designed for Jacqueline Bouvier when she married John F. Kennedy in 1953.
Born in Clayton, Alabama, in 1898 (though the exact date is unknown), Lowe was the great-granddaughter of a seamstress who had been enslaved, and a white plantation owner. Her grandmother, Georgia Tompkins, was freed when a man named General Cole bought her freedom. Ann learned to sew from her grandmother and mother, Janey Lowe, who made dresses for Southern society women. After Janey’s death in 1914, Ann, who was only sixteen at the time, finished the ball gowns her mother had been working on for Alabama’s First Lady.
Lowe married Lee Cohen at 14 and had a son, Arthur Lee. Despite her husband’s wish for her to stop working, she continued to pursue her passion. After being hired to design a wedding dress for a Florida client, Lowe left her marriage and moved to New York City in 1917 with her son. She enrolled at St. Taylor Design School, which was segregated, and had to attend classes alone. She graduated in 1919 and moved to Tampa, Florida, where she opened her first salon, “Annie Cohen,” in 1920.
By 1928, after saving up $20,000, Lowe returned to New York City, where she began receiving commissions from top retailers like Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Henri Bendel, and Chez Sonia. In 1946, she designed the gown that actress Olivia de Havilland wore to accept her Academy Award for Best Actress. Then, in 1950, Lowe and her son opened a second salon, Ann Lowe’s Gowns, on Lexington Avenue in New York City. She created designs for prominent families like the Rockefellers, the DuPonts, and the Biddles.
The pinnacle of Lowe’s career came in 1953 when she was chosen by Jacqueline Bouvier’s mother, Janet Auchincloss, to design Jacqueline’s wedding dress for her marriage to Senator John F. Kennedy. Lowe had previously designed a wedding gown for Janet Auchincloss in 1942. Jacqueline’s wedding dress became an iconic piece of fashion history.
Despite her success, Lowe faced challenges, especially when her wealthy clients would often insist she charge far less than her competitors. In 1962, after struggling to pay taxes, she lost her New York salon. That same year, she had to have her right eye removed due to glaucoma. Fortunately, surgery saved her left eye from a cataract. In 1968, at 70 years old, Lowe opened Ann Lowe Originals on Madison Avenue but retired in 1972.
Lowe was married twice. Her son, Arthur Lee, was her business partner until his death in 1958. She later remarried, though that marriage ended in divorce. In her later years, Lowe adopted a daughter, Ruth Alexander.
Ann Lowe passed away on February 25, 1981, at the age of 83, leaving behind a legacy of groundbreaking contributions to fashion and breaking racial barriers in the industry.
