Legendary Harper’s Bazaar editor Diana Vreeland said it best: “Fashion is part of the daily air and it changes all the time, with the events. You can even see the approaching of a revolution in clothes. You can see and feel everything in clothes.”
Ten of the most iconic Black fashion designers in history, listed below, would likely agree. These designers created pieces based on the people, places, things and events that mattered to them, bringing social justice issues and reflections of Black culture into their clothes. Their designs may have changed based on what they felt and experienced then, but their passion for the industry didn’t. That’s how they built names for themselves as Black American fashion icons.
Who was the first famous Black fashion designer?
Ann Lowe is considered one of America’s most significant designers and is the first well-known Black designer. Despite designing gowns for some of America’s most prominent figures and having impressive achievements on her resume — two of them are being the first Black American to own a shop on Madison Avenue and designing the dress Jacqueline Bouvier wore when she married John F. Kennedy in 1953 — she rarely received credit for her designs. Lowe’s influence on the fashion industry wasn’t widely acknowledged until after her death in 1981.
10 Black fashion designers who carry the torch in modern fashion
Take a closer look at 10 of the most famous Black fashion designers, their work and how they made or are making Black fashion history.
Virgil Abloh – the fashion designer behind Pyrex Vision
Virgil Abloh was more than just a Black male fashion designer. He was a multidisciplinary innovator most known for his work in the fashion industry, though his work extended to art, music and furniture design. In addition to starting his luxury streetwear clothing line called Pyrex Vision and a Milan-based label called Off-White, Abloh served as creative director of Kanye West’s creative agency, Donda, and was the first Black artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear line.
Dapper Dan
Born Daniel R. Day, Dapper Dan is a streetwear fashion pioneer known for reimagining luxury brands’ logos and working them into bold, custom designs. Dapper Dan is the Black fashion designer who gets the credit for introducing hip-hop culture to high fashion, boasting clientele like LL Cool J, Jay-Z and Salt-N-Pepa.
LaQuan Smith
Since LaQuan Smith launched his self-titled brand in 2008 and made his New York Fashion Week debut in 2010, he has amassed an impressive clientele list, including Khloé Kardashian, Hailey Bieber, Kylie Jenner, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé. His designs are bold and flamboyant, with a focus on highlighting the female body with figure-hugging pieces. He’s recently stepped into the menswear game for the likes of Lenny Kravitz.
Telfar Clemens
Telfar Clemens’s claim to fame is inclusivity, as seen by his unisex fashion line Telfar, one of the most popular Black-owned clothing brands today. Its slogan states, “Not for you — for everyone.” The Telfar Shopping Bag, also known as the Bushwick Birkin, is the most famous of his creations and has been worn by virtually everyone, from Beyoncé to U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Liberian-American designer has also won several awards and honors, including the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Accessories Designer of the Year Award in 2020.
Willi Smith – the Black fashion designer who invented streetwear
By the time he passed away in 1987, Willi Smith was considered one of the most successful Black fashion designers. Smith is called the inventor of streetwear, and his primary aim was to use his brand, WilliWear Limited, to make fashion accessible to all. Smith had a few noteworthy collaborations, working with names like Spike Lee, Jeanne-Claude and Christo.
Anifa Mvuemba
Self-taught fashion designer Anifa Mvuemba is best known for her line, Hanifa, a women’s apparel brand worn by Zendaya and Tracee Ellis Ross. She made headlines in May 2020 when she used 3D models to showcase her newest collection during the pandemic, reaching a wide audience and setting a new standard for virtual presentations in the fashion industry.
Stella Jean
Stella Novarino, better known as Stella Jean, merges her Italian and Haitian heritage in her designs, resulting in bold-patterned and vibrant pieces. Thanks to her mentorship under Giorgio Armani, Novarino has received international attention, widening the reach of her pieces and ethical fashion advocacy efforts. She recently designed the uniforms for the Haitian Olympic team for the 2024 Paris Games.
Tracy Reese
Tracy Reese launched her label, Tracy Reese, in 1998. Her designs, known for their feminine silhouettes, bright colors and intricate details, have garnered attention from high-profile people, including former First Lady Michelle Obama. Reese also advocates for sustainable fashion initiatives, recently launching a new brand focused on ethical production practices called Hope for Flowers.
Romeo Hunte
According to Romeo Hunte’s website biography, the women he was surrounded by during his childhood in Brooklyn —the ones who took a “creative approach to fashion” — inspired him from an early age. He was so inspired that he turned down two athletic scholarships to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology instead. The decision paid off: Hunte went on to launch his self-titled brand in 2014. No shortage of famous faces have been photographed in his lifestyle brand, including Dwyane Wade, Jennifer Hudson, Zendaya, Beyoncé and Idris Elba.
Patrick Kelly
Though Patrick Kelly was born and raised in America, France would embrace his designs first. Kelly worked his way up from nightclub costumer to an esteemed designer, creating garments inspired by his Southern Black roots, fashion and art history and the New York City and Paris club scenes. It wasn’t uncommon for his pieces to feature controversial images. This was his way of bringing attention to racial stereotyping issues. Kelly’s resume also includes being a member of the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter, the body that governs the French ready-to-wear industry and is now called the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. He was the first American to join the organization.
Follow the Latest Black Designer Trends in the Fashion Industry
Thanks to the world’s talented designers — those listed above and the countless others who eat, sleep and breathe fashion — plenty of interesting, innovative things are happening in the fashion industry. Don’t miss out on any of them. Instead, keep an eye on the latest fashion news so you’ll know what trends to rock all summer long (heavy metals and monochrome are in) and which Black designers’ dresses are flying off the shelves.