Annie Jewell Moore, an Atlanta resident, recently turned 104. The staff and patients of the A.G. Rhodes nursing home, where she is currently residing, honored the Spelman alumni with a cake and party earlier this week.
Moore attended her Class of 1943 reunion earlier this year, making her the oldest living Spelman alumna. She was born in 1919 and moved to Atlanta when she was three years old after her father died. After meeting the daughter of a family friend who demonstrated her sewing talents, she rapidly realized her affinity for sewing.
Moore told WABE, “I saw all of these gorgeous doll clothes she had made by hand, and I wanted to learn to sew like that. And that was my earliest inspiration to get into fashion.”
She continued to be interested in fashion even after graduating from Spelman College with a degree in economics in 1943. According to Fox 5, Spelman honors Moore as one of the first African Americans to study at the Traphagen School of Fashion, the New York Fashion Academy, and Paris’ École Guerre Lavigna.
Moore worked on Broadway show costumes after graduating from high school, and her designs were published in Vogue and Jet. In 1963, she launched Ann Moore Couturiere in Detroit, the city’s only black-owned haute couture salon, which featured day and evening wear.
After returning to Atlanta, she founded and served as president of the Benefactors of Education, Inc., a charity that provided scholarships and financial assistance to students interested in fashion and the arts.
Moore was recognized by the Atlanta History Center with an exhibit of her clothes collection at the Rountree Visual Vault last year. It featured one of Moore’s favorite designs, the UbiquiSix—a six-piece ensemble that could be worn from day to night.