03/10/2022
Women’s Day, Women’s Week, Women’s Month, whatever we’re on, women rule the world. So in the spirit of powerful and influential women, I wanted to highlight a particularly important maker, Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes.
Her watered down claim to fame would be: the first black designer to open her own shop, which was also the first black-owned business on Broadway in NYC.
But she was so much more than that, a rule breaker, a trendsetter, a star maker, and a brilliant entrepreneur.
Zelda learned her trade from her grandmother who was a seamstress, she continued to hone her craft at her uncle’s tailoring shop in White Plains, NY. She stepped out on her own in 1935 and started gaining a large dressmaking clientele. In 1948 she moved her shop (Zelda Wynn) from White Plains, NY to the big apple where she started to dress stars like Gladys Knight, Ella Fitzgerald, Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt, and Maria Cole. Her dresses were known for their glamor and elegance, and she eventually caught the eye of Hugh Hefner, who commissioned her to design the original Pl***oy Bunny costumes. She went on to receive countless awards and recognitions during this time and sat on several councils and boards within the fashion and black communities. She also designed 82 costumes for the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
She closed her shop in 1989, but continued to work with the Dance Theatre until her death at 92 years old.
Her accomplishments, endless, and her talent, bright. I hope her story and devotion to her craft inspires you as much as it has me!
