Messner, Kate and Margaret E. Powell. Only the Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe. Erin K. Robinson, Illustrator. Chronicle. 10/2022. 56pp. Biography. GRADES 2 – 5. OUTSTANDING. Trade $18.99. 978-1-45216-160-0.
With panache and style, perseverance and determination, Black fashion designer Ann Lowe made beautiful gowns for the rich and famous, overcoming blatant discrimination and establishing herself as a leading American fashion designer. Messner collaborates with art historian Powell to capture Lowe’s life and designs, drawing on newspaper articles, archives, interviews, and letters. “With her mother’s steady hand on hers,” Ann learned how to sew, learning “Vision. Precision. Attention to detail. Only the best will do.” Throughout, Messner and Powell weave lyrical language that evokes the beauty of Lowe’s creations along with her passion and determination. Gowns “glow like moonlight” with “glimmering fabrics and the soft sheen of pearls.” Floral motifs run throughout the language and illustrations; as “Ann snips and tucks, gathers and folds,” readers see “the fabrics bloom in her hands.” Lowe followed her dream of designing high fashion gowns, breaking color barriers when she attended a New York City fashion school in 1917, and later when she applied for jobs in dress shops. Readers will celebrate as Lowe achieves recognition, designs dresses for Jacqueline Kennedy’s wedding, and opens her own dressmaking salon. Robinson uses color, shapes, and texture in digital-collage illustrations, conveying the beauty and style of Lowe’s craft. A masterful picture book biography of a fashion designer determined to provide only the best.
Mary Ann Scheuer — Independent