Black History Month: About The First Black Fashion Designer!

February has begun, which means it is now Black History Month. Although most people start with civil rights leaders when they think of Black History Month, we have to admit that the world of fashion has also had quite a few people who should also be honored. Let start by asking the question "Who was the first black fashion designer?" The designs are displayed above and you can find the answer and a bit of history of the designer after the jump:

Fashion legend Zelda Wynn Valdes (1905 – 2001) was the first black designer and costumer to open her own shop, which was the first black-owned business on Broadway in 1948. Her sexy, hip-hugging designs have been worn by many popular, world famous entertainers such as recent CL History Spotlight Joyce Bryant, Marian Anderson, Josephine Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Dorothy Dandridge, Mae West, Ruby Dee, Eartha Kitt and Sarah Vaughan, and later superstars like Gladys Knight and opera diva Jessye Norman. She also designed dresses for legendary figures like Marlene Dietrich and Mae West among many others. 

Singer/actress Dorothy Dandridge.

Accentuating the female form, her work speaks for itself and often contained a mermaid quality starting off tight and fitting at the top and flaring with dramatic ruffles at the bottom. “I just had a God-given talent for making people beautiful,” she told a New York Times reporter later in her career.

Mae West

Ella Fitzgerald in the 1940s

Joyce Bryant

Zelda Wynn got her start in fashion creating outfits for her dolls as a child in Chambersburg, Pa., and began cutting out patterns from newspaper. She landed her first job at a fancy clothier, but things were not easy for her. She recalled that some of the clients doubted her abilities as a young black woman, but Zelda was determined to show them what she could do. In 1948, Ms. Wynn would open her own boutique in Manhattan in what is now Washington Heights on Broadway and West 158th Street.

Playboy Bunny costumes in the 1950s

During the rise in her professional career she caught the attention of Hugh Hefner, who hired her to design the first Playboy Bunny costumes in the 1950s. Zelda also played an integral role in the formation of the National Association of Fashion and Accessory Designers. At 65, when most others were retiring, Arthur Mitchell, creator of the first black ballet company, asked her to design the uniforms for the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Zelda Wynn Valdes died at the age of 96 on Sept. 26, 2001, but her lasting contributions to fashion will live on forever.