Hefner commissioned Valdes to do this work on the recommendation of the magazine’s promotion director, Victor Lownes. She is most famous for designing the original costumes for the Playboy Bunnies and the Dance Theater of Harlem. “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.” 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. Her designs have been worn by famous entertainers such as Dorothy Dandridge, Josephine Baker, Marian Anderson, Josephine Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Mae West, … 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. 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. She studied her grandmother’s work as a seamstress and also worked in her uncle’s tailoring shop. Around the same time, Valdes began working as a stock girl at a high-end boutique. 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 activist Mary McLeod Bethune. Subscribe To The Black Detour For The Latest In Black News, History & Culture, Subscribe For The Latest In Black News & History, Arkansas homeowner receives letter telling him to take his Black Santa down and move out the neighborhood, Michigan Man Currently Serving 60-Year Sentence In Marijuana Case Seeks Clemency, Black Woman Records Neighbor Making Racist Rants About Asians: ‘Go live in Asia. First unveiled publicly in an early episode of Playboy’s Penthouse Magazine, the bunny costume made its formal debut at the opening of the first Playboy Club in Chicago, Illinois on the evening of February 29, 1960. Zelda Wynn Valdés would become a well-known fashion designer and costumer who made outfits for leading performers through the decades, including Josephine Baker, Joyce … 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 at 47-years-old Valdes opened the first Black-owned boutique in Manhattan on Broadway and West 158th Street with her sister, Mary Barbour who worked as her assistant. 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/. Valdes started working as a stock girl at a high-end boutique around 1920 and worked her way up to be the store’s first Black sales clerk and tailor. Valdes’s celebrity clients included Josephine Baker, Mae West, Ella Fitzgerald, Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt, and Marian Anderson. 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. Valdes’s boutique soon attracted various celebrities and society women. Growing up Valdes studied her grandmother’s work as a seamstress and worked within her uncle’s tailoring shop. Her designs have been worn by famous entertainers such as Dorothy Dandridge, Josephine Baker, Marian Anderson, Josephine Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Mae West, Ruby Dee, Eartha Kitt, and Sarah Vaughan, among others. Retrieved from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/valdes-zelda-barbour-wynn-1901-2001/. She would later move Chez Zelda to midtown Manhattan, setting up shop on 57th Street. The store was called Chez Zelda. Valdes would continue to work with the Dance Theater of Harlem until her death on September 26, 2001, at age ninety-six. Looking back, Valdes said "It … Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes was an African American fashion and costume designer. Zelda Wynn Valdes was a fashion legend who was the first African-American designer to open her own shop on Broadway in New York in 1948. Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes was an African American fashion and costume designer. 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. D.L. All donations are tax deductible. Valdes’s celebrity clients included Josephine Baker, Mae West, Ella Fitzgerald, Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt, and Marian Anderson. Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes was born on June 28, 1905, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. 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. Originally, the Valdes design had the ears taller and the ensemble lacked the trademark bow tie, collar, and cuffs. 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’s boutique soon attracted numerous celebrities and society women. Chandler. Valdes’s designs created a new sexier image for singer Joyce Bryant who was a huge star in the Black 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. The Black Detour is a independent, digital publication that transcends black culture. The design originally had the ears taller and the ensemble lacked the trademark bow tie, collar, and cuffs. The Black Detour is a independent media outlet that advocates for Black people to not only be empowered, but informed on issues in the Black community. 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