In 1970, Arthur Mitchell asked Ms. Wynn to design … Valdes’s boutique soon attracted numerous celebrities and society women. In 1948, she opened her own shop on Broadway in New York City which was the first in the area to be owned by an African American. Zelda Wynn Valdes (1905-2001) was an African American fashion and costume designer whose career spanned 40 years. She studied her grandmother’s work as a seamstress and also worked in her uncle’s tailoring shop. From the very childhood, she showed intense love for fashion and started her professional career as a little designer in the tailoring shop of her uncle in White Plains, New York. Chandler. Zelda Wynn Valdes (June 28, 1905 – September 26, 2001) was an African-American fashion designer and costumer. Feb 21, 2017 - You may not have heard of Zelda Wynn Valdes, but you’ve certainly seen her designs. Do you find this information helpful? In 1949 Valdes was elected president of the New York Chapter of the National Association of Fashion and Accessory Designers (NAFAD), an organization of black designers that was founded by educator and political activist Mary McLeod Bethune. In 1948, the Pennsylvania-born Valdes opened her Chez Zelda boutique on Broadway and … Zelda Wynn Valdes –Fashion Designer (1901-2001) Fashion and costume designer, Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes, was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. See more ideas about Vintage black glamour, African american, Black history. Zelda Valdes grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, but was born Zelda Christian Barbour in Chambersburg, PA. She trained as a classical pianist at the Catholic Conservatory of Music. Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes was an African-American fashion and costume designer. Around the same time, Valdes began working as a stock girl at a high-end boutique. From dressing Hollywood darlings, Playboy Bunnies and ballerinas, Zelda's legacy is long and enduring -- a fact that she was certainly proud of. In “Zelda Valdés: The Cuban Woman who Dressed Hollywood,” Carlos Ferrera Torres writes about Valdés, whose parents (Cuban father, José Valdés and Arican-American mother, Ann Barbour) met in Havana in 1902. She eventually worked her way up to selling and making alterations, becoming the shop's first black sales clerk and tailor. Have you beaten every game, collected every peice of heart, and explored every nook of Hyrule? Fashion and Costume Designer, Zelda Wynn Valdes Zelda (June 1905 – September 26, 2001) more than just a seamstress began her career in the peak years of Jim Crow segregation in Charlotte, North Carolina. The legendary Harlemite Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes (June 28, 1905 – September 26, 2001), was an African-American fashion designer and costumer based in Harlem who designed the original Playboy Bunny costume. Valdes’s celebrity clients included Josephine Baker, Mae West, Ella Fitzgerald, Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt, and Marian Anderson. Resources. “I only fit her once in 12 years,” Valdes told T he New York Times in 1994 of her long-time client Ella Fitzgerald, “I had to do everything by imagination for her.” In 1948 at the age of forty-seven, Valdes opened the first African American owned boutique in Manhattan on Broadway and West 158th Street with her sister, Mary Barbour, who worked as her assistant. Valdes’s fashion designs were responsible for creating a new sexier image for singer Joyce Bryant who was a huge star in the African American community in the early 1950s and whom Life Magazine later described as the “the Black Marilyn Monroe.” In 1958 Playboy Magazine founder Hugh Hefner hired Valdes to design the first Playboy Bunny costumes. Zelda Wynn Valdes created the first Playboy bunny costume. She was also the first Black person to open a store on Broadway in New York City, and designed clothing for some of the top stars of the ’40’s and ’50s. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone! Originally, the Valdes design had the ears taller and the ensemble lacked the trademark bow tie, collar, and cuffs. “Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes,” Fashion Sizzle, http://fashionsizzle.com/2013/02/zelda-wynn-valdes-first-black-designer-and-costumer-to-open-her-own-shop/; “Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes,” Dumpling Designs, http://dumpling-designs.com/history/zelda-wynn-valdes-african-american-fashion-pioneer/; “Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes,” OUP blog, https://blog.oup.com/2015/03/costume-designer-zelda-wynn-valdes/. Born Zelda Wynn Valdes on June 28, 1905 in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. In the early 1920s, Valdes started to work in the tailoring shop of her uncle in White Plains, New York. One young woman gave facts on costume designer Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes who designed the original Playboy bunny costume, stating that in honor of the designer, she made the dress she wore for the program. She called her store, Chez Zelda. 10 Ways To Get Creative With Your Thanksgiving Leftovers! The Artist. Also the designer of … Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes was an influential fashion designer perhaps best known for helping to create the iconic Playboy Bunny costume. In 1948, the Pennsylvania-born Valdes opened her Chez Zelda boutique on Broadway and West 158th Street before relocating to Midtown. The Ten Most Interesting Little Known Black History Facts, SYBIL’S NEWS: Donald Trump’s Threat, WorldStarHipHop Founder Dies, Usher Shares First Photo Of His Newborn Daughter, Sovereign Bo Raymond, Bobby Brown’s Son, Bobby Jr., Passes Away At 28, Bobby Brown Jr.’s Final Tweets Reveal He Was In Love As Girlfriend Breaks Her Silence, DC Homicide Detective Killed By Wife In Murder-Suicide, 6 Black Businesses To Support On Black Friday. I had to do everything by imagination for her. Created Aug 2011, prior to Skyward Sword. However, she was born in a small town, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania south of … African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African Americans and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Alma Stephenson Dever Page on Afro-britons, With Pride: Uplifting LGBTQ History On Blackpast, Preserving Martin Luther King County’s African American History, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, African American Newspapers, Magazines, and Journals, http://fashionsizzle.com/2013/02/zelda-wynn-valdes-first-black-designer-and-costumer-to-open-her-own-shop/, http://dumpling-designs.com/history/zelda-wynn-valdes-african-american-fashion-pioneer/, https://blog.oup.com/2015/03/costume-designer-zelda-wynn-valdes/. Hefner commissioned Valdes to design the Playboy Bunny costume after the magazine’s promotions director, Victor Lownes, came up with the idea. Zelda Wynn Valdes (1905 - 2001) Zelda Valdes is known for fashion designer, couturier. Zelda Valdes was born on June 28, 1905, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Zelda Wynn Valdes had a high profile clientele, creating gowns and costumes for Eartha Kitt, Dorothy Dandridge, Marian Anderson, Josephine Baker, and Ella Fitzgerald. A blogger blogs about black history in fashion, and on designer Zelda Wynn Valdes, the first african american to own a boutique/shop on Broadway in New York City. Once Ms. Bryant adapted the skin-tight, low-cut gowns by Zelda Wynn Valdes, her career took off. Follow us on Twitter. Read on to learn more about one of the first African American fashion designers: 1. She was also the first Black person to open a store on Broadway in New York City, and designed clothing for some of the top stars of the ’40’s and ’50s. Working in and around New York City, the center of the American fashion industry, Valdes began her career as an assistant to her uncle in his White Plains, New York tailoring shop. As a result of her role with NAFAD, Valdes worked in exclusive circles and word of her designs caught the attention of Playboy’s Hugh Hefner. But what you probably didn’t know was that Zelda Wynn Valdes, a black woman, sewed the original costumes — and that the late Hugh Hefner personally commissioned her to do it. Valdes would continue to work with the Dance Theater of Harlem until her death on September 26, 2001, at age ninety-six. Hefner commissioned Valdes to do this work on the recommendation of the magazine’s promotion director, Victor Lownes. Zelda Wynn Valdes In a recent edition of The New York Times the special section titled “Overlooked” listed several African-Americans who deserved obituaries but … Zelda Wynn Valdes: A fashion designer who outfitted?the glittery stars of screen and stage. Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes (1901–2001) Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes was an African American fashion and costume designer. Zelda Wynn Valdes was a designer to the stars who could fit a dress to a body of any size — even if she had to do so just by looking at the client. Zelda Wynn Valdes was a designer to the stars who could fit a dress to a body of any size — even if she had to do so just by looking at the client. Valdes was the first black designer to open her own shop, which was the first black-owned business on Broadway in New York City, New York in 1948. Auction Records (0) For Sale (0) The move proved fruitful as Valdes worked with a bevy of stars including Joyce Bryant, Dorothy Dandridge, Josephine Baker, Ella Fitzgerald and Mae West among others. She then went on to earn a degree in Fashion Design from Parsons The New School for Design. Valdes was the first black designer to open her own shop, which was the first black-owned business on Broadway in New York City, New York in 1948. Valdes began working as a stock girl at a high-end boutique around 1920 and worked her way up to become the boutique’s first black sales clerk and tailor. Zelda Wynn Valdes (or Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes ) was a fashion and costume designer for the biggest names in Hollywood. The fashion designer is credited with creating the original Playboy bunny costume. Got her start in fashion creating outfits for her dolls as a child in Chambersburg, Pa., and began cutting out patterns from newspaper. Buy / Sell. Zelda Wynn Valdes died at the age of 96 in 2001. She worked for the celebrated dance company for 18 years, retiring in 1988. Describing her design process for Fitzgerald in a New York Times feature, Valdes said, “I only fit her once in 12 years. Zelda Wynn Valdes died at the age of 96 in 2001. Replies for “ Zelda Wynn Valdes ” Ellen Dial February 19, 2015 at 1:26 pm. Zelda Wynn Valdes drapes a dress in her workroom. Can you pass the Ultimate Zelda Trivia Quiz? Zelda Wynn Valdes first black Fashion designer and costumer to open her own shop 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. Copyright © 2020 Interactive One, LLC. In 1948, she opened her boutique, Chez Zelda on Broadway and 158th Street in Harlem, NY, which was the first in the area to be owned by an African-American. BlackPast.org is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. Overview . Some dress outrageously to gain attention – in fact, IMO a great many performers do – most especially the female performers. She is the granddaughter of Prince Rainier III of Monaco.She worked for three years as a stylist apprentice at Instituto Marangoni. 50 Multiple Choice Question. All donations are tax deductible. Later in her career, she designed for R&B legend Gladys Knight and opera vocalist, Jessye Norman. 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