Fashion - Zelda Wynn Valdes

 

Growing up in Pennsylvania, young Zelda learned to sew by watching her grandmother's seamstress.  She offered to design a dress for her and it was a perfect fit.

After high school in 1923, the family moved to White Plains, New York and she worked in her uncle's tailoring shop.  In the 30's she worked at an upscale boutique, and in 1948 she opened Chez Zelda.  She was the first black person to own a store on Broadway.

Some of her clients included:

Ella Fitzgerald

Dorothy Dandridge

Josephine Baker

Joyce Bryant

Mae West

Eartha Kitt

For the opening of his club in 1960, Hugh Hefner commissioned Zelda to create a uniform for the waitstaff.  An icon was born.

During the 70's, she designed costumes for the Dance Theater of Harlem.

She would also dye each and every pair of tights to match the dancer's skin tone.

Zelda passed away in 2001 at the age of 96, having never retired.

"I just had a God-given talent for making people beautiful."