Exploring the legacy of black fashion design

Clothes on displayed offers a glimpse into exactly how impactful designers of color have been through the decades. [Photo/Agencies]

"I remember when I was 10 years old and talking to a former nursery school teacher and telling her that I wanted to be a fashion designer and she said, 'Well whoever heard of a black fashion designer,' and she was black," says Banks, who was raised in Washington, D.C.

"I was so angry, even at 10 years old, to think why would someone say something like that? Why should that be an impediment to anything? I think it made me even more determined to become a designer," he says.

Banks looked to those who came before him, but his eye was on the beauty of their creations, not necessarily their skin color.

"Growing up, Stephen Burrows, when I was in high school, he was just starting to design and I thought his designs were extraordinary, and that was way before I knew he was black," Banks says. "I just thought they were great looking clothes. At the end of the day that's really what counts."

Jacqueline Bouvier must have thought so, too. In 1953, she wore an ivory silk taffeta gown to marry the young Senator John F. Kennedy. It was designed by Ann Lowe, already a noted dressmaker for high society patrons in New York.