Anne Cole Lowe, a legendary black american high fashion designer and fashion expertise in her time and in her prime. Her work and history as a fashion pioneer isn't very well known, but her legacy cannot be erased.

Born the great-granddaughter of a slave in Clayton, Alabama in 1898, her creations were highly favored among high society matrons from the 1920s to the 1960s. Lowe's passion for fashion was an inspiration from her mother and grandmother who were both talented seamstresses for the first family of Montgomery, Alabama and other members of high society groups.

Lowe's Early Life and Career

In 1912 at the age of 14, Lowe married Lee Cohen. Soon after her marriage to Cohen, she had a son and named him Arthur Lee. After awhile, Lowe began to have conflict with her husband due to her love for dress designing and being a seamstress, but that didn't last long. Lowe's passion for fashion designing is what kept her moving and she did just that. Soon after, she was hired to create a wedding dress for a young lady in Florida. Marriages never really worked out for Lowe due to her career and passion for fashion. After the marriage to her second husband, according to Lowe, was a fail. "He left, because he wanted a real wife and not one forever jumping out of bed to sketch dresses."

In 1917, Lowe and her son moved to New York. She enrolled in the S.T. Taylor design school. Lowe's only way to attend was the lonely way, as the school was segregated, but her skills gave her the opportunity to finish in a short amount of time. Lowe then moved back to Florida and a year later she opened her very own dress salon called "Annie Cohen." This salon only catered to members of high society and it was a success!

Lowe's Accomplishments

In 1928, Lowe moved back to New York City after saving $20,000 of her earnings from her dress salon. She began to work on commission in stores like Neiman Marcus, Chez Sonia, Saks Fifth Ave, and Henri Bendel. She also created the dress that British-American actress Olivia de Havilland wore to accept the Academy Award for best actress in the film, To Each His Own, but Lowe never received proper credit for her creation. Shortly after in 1950, Lowe and her son opened a second salon in New York City on Lexington Avenue, she called it Anne Lowe's Gowns. Her brilliant designs were made from the finest fabrics and gained the attention of many wealthy high society clients and it was once again a success.

Lowe was known for being picky when it came to her clientele, as she was known to describe herself as an "awful snob."  She adored her clothing and she was very particular about who wore them. Lowe only catered to families of the social register. She created designs for several generations of the Rockefellers, the Lodges, the Auchinclosses, the Du Ponts, the Biddles, and the Posts. Lowe was personally hand-picked by Janet Auchincloss, Jackie Kennedy's mother, who had previously hired Lowe in the past to design the wedding dress she wore when she married Hugh D. Auchincloss. Soon after, Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress was born. Lowe's dress for Jackie Kennedy consisted of fifty yards of ivory silk taffeta with interwoven bands of tucking forming the bodice, with similar tucking in large circular designs that swept around the full skirt. The dress was described in the New York Times's coverage of the wedding. In 1955, Jackie Kennedy's stepsister, Nina Auchincloss, appeared in a fashion editorial for Vogue Magazine also wearing a debut dress designed by Lowe, but once again, Lowe never got the proper credit for either of those creations. Lowe was "Greatness in silence!"

Lowe's Later Life and Legacy

Lowe throughout her career continued to work for rich and wealthy clientele. It has also been stated that her wealthy clientele would often talk her out of charging hundreds of dollars for her classy creations. Lowe admitted that she was virtually broke at the height of her career. After paying her staff, she also failed to make a decent profit off of her designs. In 1962, her right eye was removed due to glaucoma. To make matters worse, she ended up losing her dress salon in New York City after failing to pay taxes. Lowe's debts however, were paid by an anonymous friend. Lowe then developed a cataract in her left eye, but it was saved after surgery. Lowe just couldn't give up though, in 1968, she opened a new store called Anne Lowe's Originals on Madison Avenue, four years later, Lowe retired.

Lowe adopted a daughter named Ruth Alexander and lived in an apartment on Manhattan Ave. in Harlem. Lowe lived the last five years of her life with her daughter Ruth. Lowe passed away in 1981 due to long-term illness.

Lowe's legacy will continuously live on. Collections of Anne Lowe's designs are held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with displays of her work at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African History and Culture in Washington D.C.

High Fashion Passion is proud and honored to recognize, give contribution, and to also give credit where credit is due. This is to the Remembrance of Anne Lowe, a lady with a powerful legacy that will hopefully be revealed for all the world to know!

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