From <a href="http://madamenoire.com/782733/designer-ann-cole-lowe-history/" target="_blank">Ann Lowe</a> to Mildred Blount, Black female fashion designers have been integral in helping to create iconic style moments. For Lowe, it was dressing Academy Award winners and making the wedding gown for Jackie O (then known as Jacqueline Bouvier). For Blount, it was creating the hats for the Oscar-winning film, <em>Gone With the Wind. </em>Another underrated designer and costume maker is Zelda Wynn Valdes (1905-2001). Her work has transformed careers, helped define company's like Playboy, propelled the hip-hugging style of gowns and made her one of the greats. Check out five things you should know about the legendary designer and costumer.
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<h2>She Got Her Start Working Her Way up From Stock Girl to Tailor</h2>
After growing up in Pennsylvania, Zelda moved to New York and got her start working at her uncle's tailoring shop before taking on work as a stock girl in a fancy boutique. It wasn't easy, but Zelda's talents allowed her to climb the ladder at the high-end shop. She eventually moved from stock girl to the first Black sales clerk and finally, tailor of the business.
<h2>Her Celeb Clients Included Josephine Baker, Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt and More</h2>
After opening her own shop in Manhattan in the late '40s (the first Black woman to have a business on Broadway in NYC), Valdes became quite popular and started making pieces for celebrities. Her clients included a little bit of everybody, from Josephine Baker, Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt, Ella Fitzgerald and Eartha Kitt to Mae West and Marlene Dietrich. As <a href="http://www.newschannel10.com/story/34438891/black-history-recognizing-zelda-wynn-valdes" target="_blank">Valdes said about her work</a> and the clientele it attracted, "I just had a God-given talent for making people beautiful."
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<h2>She Transformed Joyce Bryant's Career</h2>
Another major client of Zelda's was singer Joyce Bryant. Through her gowns, which accentuated Bryant's curves, the entertainer's career, and her sexy image, was propelled big time. She reportedly went from cute dresses and moving songs due to her religious beliefs to becoming "the Black Marilyn Monroe" with Zelda's skin-tight and low-cut looks. Bryant went on to become one of the biggest singers of the early '50s.
<h2>She Is Behind the Playboy Bunny Costume</h2>
Where would Playboy be without the iconic Playboy bunny costume? Well, Zelda is cited as the designer of the original costume. Her work with the aforementioned stars attracted the attention of Hugh Hefner, who commissioned Zelda to create the low-cut, vampy costume that we've all come to know.
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<h2>She Worked With the Dance Theater of Harlem up Until Her Death</h2>
Zelda spent her later years as the New York chapter president of the National Association of Fashion and Accessory Designer. It was founded by educator Mary McLeod Bethune and sought to propel Black designers. She also started working with the Dance Theater of Harlem and created hundreds of costumes for the company since its early years (it was founded in 1969). While she stopped creating outfits through her business in 1989, she continued making them for the Dance Theater of Harlem until she died in 2001. She was 96 years old.
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