Fannie Criss (1866 — February 2, 1942) was a late 19th-century and 20th-century African-American designer who specialized in hand-made dress and gowns for elite patrons in

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Career

Criss learned the art of dressmaking from her mother and later passed on her skills by offering a program in the Richmond area for young women to develop their sewing skills. She started as a seamstress who traveled home to home, as many did. Criss became the city's most celebrated designer in the early 1900s, charging up to $200 for her elegant, handmade dresses. With the help of her housekeeper and two or three young women, Criss designed dresses for the white elite in Richmond. Criss was well respected by her patrons and was well known for her beautifully designed wedding gowns. The second day dress, designed by Criss in 1896 and worn in the Richmond high society wedding of Miss Ellen Clark to Mr. Gordon Wallace, was donated to the Valentine Museum in Richmond, which has the second largest collection of period costumes in the United States. A wool two-part dress of Criss's was featured at the "Pretty Powerful: Fashion and Virginia Women" exhibit in Richmond, Virginia, from May 2018 until January 2019.

Notable clients

Maggie L. Walker Maggie Lena (née Draper Mitchell) Walker (July 15, 1864 – December 15, 1934) was a businesswoman and teacher. In 1903, Walker became both the first African American woman to charter a bank and the first African American woman to serve as ...

, the first Black woman bank founder and president of St. Luke's Penny Thrift Saving Bank, was a neighbor on West Leigh Street in Richmond and became one of Criss's many wealthy clients. Gloria Swanson, who was once the highest paid actress in Hollywood, was one of her more prominent clients. Criss was neighbors with Sara Breedlove Walker, better known as

Madam C. J. Walker Madam C.J. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove; December 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919) was an African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political and social activist. She is recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in America in the '' G ...

, with whom she also enjoyed a close friendship. Criss also designed dresses for Walker's daughter

A'Lelia Bundles A'Lelia Perry Bundles (born June 7, 1952) is an American journalist, news producer and author, known for her 2001 biography of her great-great-grandmother Madam C. J. Walker. Family and early life A'Lelia Bundles grew up in Indianapolis in a fami ...

Early life

Fannie Criss was born in 1866 in Cumberland County, Virginia, to Samuel and Adeline Criss, who were formerly enslaved. She was one of the couple's seven children and their first child born after they had attained their freedom. The family later moved to Richmond where Criss listed herself as a dressmaker in the classified business section of the city directory; of the 132 women listed as dressmakers in 1902, 112 were White and 20 were Black.

Personal life

Criss married William Thornton Payne in 1895 and purchased a home on West Leigh Street, located in an affluent area in Richmond. Criss operated her dressmaking business from this location. Criss's marriage to Payne did not last long and she later married William White and the couple relocated to New York City around 1918, acquiring a brownstone townhouse in the

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

neighborhood at 219 West 137th Street. Criss continued to operate her dressmaking business from this location, which thrived as she began to design for wealthy black women, Broadway stars and movie actresses. Criss's flamboyant and free spirited personality made her home in New York "which was filled with nice furniture and lots of silver and pretty things" a haven for the city's most influential Blacks. Fannie Criss died on February 2, 1942, at the age of 76 in New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Criss, Fannie African-American fashion designers American fashion designers American women fashion designers 1866 births 1942 deaths 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women