by The largely unheralded fashion designer Ann Lowe is getting the celluloid treatment, supported by Serena Williams and Ruth E. Carter.
Tristar Sony will release the movie, “The Dress,” based on Piper Huguley’s historical fiction book “By Her Own Design.” The biopic will focus on Lowe’s experience creating the wedding dress worn by Jacqueline Bouvier to marry John F. Kennedy in 1953 — years before her presidential run. For a long time, Lowe’s was not publicly recognized for its elaborate custom designs.
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Lowe died in 1981 at the age of 82. Despite having a 50-year career that included designing that historic dress and being the go-to designer for such society types as Marjorie Merriweather Post, the Rockefellers, the Roosevelts, and the HF du Pont. family in the 1950s and 1960s, Lowe’s career was not much talked about during her lifetime. Further back, the first wife was Lowe’s mother, Janet Lee Bouvier, who wore one of Lowe’s designs to marry Hugh Auchincloss in 1942.
Williams, who launched Nine Two Six Productions last year, and Carter, a two-time Oscar-winning costume designer, will be involved in the production of the feature film. Carter, who will also handle costume design, said she was thrilled to be part of the development of the film “which shines a much-deserved spotlight on Ann Lowe, the first Black woman couturier on Madison Avenue and the spirit amazing behind the story of Jackie Bouvier. iconic wedding dress.”
“Ann’s contribution to fashion has been missed for a long time, and we are at a time when stories like hers need to be revealed and celebrated,” said Carter. “As a trailblazer in my own right, I understand firsthand the challenges and rewards of overcoming obstacles. Through her story, we hope to inspire future generations to dream, push boundaries, and know they can achieve greatness, just like she did.”
Born in Clayton, Ala., Lowe learned to sew at the age of 5 from her mother Janine Cole Lowe and her enslaved grandmother Georgia Thompkins, who were established dressmakers at the time. At the age of 16, the designer had to take over the family business after her mother died unexpectedly. After several years, she moved to Tampa, Fla. A chance shop encounter with Tampa socialite Josephine Edwards Lee, who Lowe complimented on her dress, led to a live job offer as a dress maker.
Despite her first husband’s disapproval, Lowe relocated to the family estate with her son. Later, with the support of her employer, Lowe enrolled in the ST Taylor School of Design in New York City. Lowe took classes alone in a room at the segregated school, but still outperformed her classmates in half the required time. In the city, Lowe would design for Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and her own eponymous business. In 1928, Lowe moved to New York City and developed a loyal, well-heeled clientele at a time when Black-owned businesses were rare.
Because of Lowe’s reputation for intricate designs, lace-lined gowns, and floral arrangements she was chosen to design Kennedy’s gown for her future wedding to the president, as well as the ladies’ dresses. After a flood in her shop destroyed the wedding dress and the morning dresses 10 days before the wedding, Lowe worked overtime to make new ones, which she did at extra expense and at her own personal expense. That was no small feat. The wedding dress itself was made from 50 yards of ivory silk taffeta and featured a dramatic “New Look” silhouette inspired by Christian Dior. With a fitted bodice and portrait neckline, the dress was embellished with woven bands of tucked gauze and a full skirt that called for the “trapunto” sewing technique for a layered effect through ruffles and concentric circles.
Throughout her career, Lowe periodically faced financial challenges including sometimes underpayment from clients, who took advantage of her. Her many creations included an ivory dress embellished with handmade fabric rose vines and a sleeveless black cocktail dress with handmade pink floral detailing.
Carter noted Wednesday that Ann Lowe’s original couture designs are on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and that Kennedy’s 1953 wedding dress is part of the permanent collection at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
Although Carter and Williams will be working together for the first time, Carter said, “We are intellectually aware of the need to create authentic women’s stories that nourish and move us forward. Serena is very concerned and very vocal in meetings as we build and develop [the film.] She has also broken the status quo in her career and is involved in this woman’s journey.”
Carter said, “But, the design of the clothes will be in my hands.”
An executive at Nine Two Six Productions acknowledged a media request, but was not immediately available for an interview Wednesday.
WWD first wrote about Lowe in 1960, describing the designer as Neiman Marcus’s “secret resource” for super-elaborate ball gowns, which Saks Fifth Avenue successfully designed for Neiman’s. in advance. At the time, Lowe was making her dresses with the Miss Madison store, but she planned to strike out on her own in 1961. Four years later, Lowe and Florence Cowell formed AF Chantilly Inc., a wholesale and retail operation that the shop was selling only. what they produced. At that time, ball gowns, wedding gowns and débutante gowns were wholesale from $200 and up, coats started at $350 and suits were over $300. She also opened her own Ann Lowe Originals store on Madison Avenue in the mid-60s – the first for a Black business owner at the time.
It is only in recent years that her career and her creations began to focus more sharply through museum exhibitions. A year ago, “Ann Lowe: American Couturier,” the largest show of her work to date, debuted at the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in Wilmington, Del. In December 2023, a dress designed by Lowe was prominently featured. in the Metropolitan Art Institute of the Clothing Museum’s “Women Designing Women” exhibit — more than 60 years after the first garment was made.
Attending last year’s media preview at The Met, Lowe’s granddaughter Linda A. Dixon, who has led Lowe’s legacy for years, told WWD, “Finally, finally — she’s getting her due.”
Dixon’s literary agent, Sharon Parker-Frazier of Crystal Ship Artists, said she and Dixon are in contact with the production team about a possible involvement in the film.
After creating a replica of Kennedy’s wedding dress for the Winterthur exhibit after spending three days at the JFK Library and Museum taking “hundreds” of photos of the garment, examining it inside and out, and measuring every millimeter of it, Katya said Roelse that is. He spoke to Carter about the prospect of consulting on the film to make sure the dress is “portrayed as it is to help tell the story of Ann Lowe, as it relates to the dress, in an accurate way.”
The dress will no longer be displayed in the JFK archives because it is in a “destroyed” state – there are tears at the waistline and it wouldn’t be ethical in a curatorial way, or respectful,” said Roelse, a professor of fashion design at the Centre. University of Delaware.
Lowe’s work was also featured in the Apparel Institute’s “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” exhibit in 2022. Years earlier in 1989, Lowe’s designs were shown at “The Soul of Seventh Avenue,” an event celebrating Black designers, who held at the New York Hilton.
Later in an interview with WWD in 2020, fashion designer B Michael noted that while some name labels like Oscar de la Renta and Christian Dior have survived years after their founders died, the name Lowe did not . “Ann Lowe should be a viable brand right now but it’s not,” he said at the time.
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