Wynne harlem biography

          A conservatory-trained pianist, her music education started at Harlem School of the Arts....

          Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes, The Great, 1905 – 2001

          Before she created the original, legendary Playboy Bunny outfit, Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes (June 28, 1905 – September 26, 2001), designed for divas like Dorothy Dandridge and she created the stage costumes for the Dance Theater of Harlem.

          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.

        1. Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes (June 28, - September 26, ) was an American fashion designer and costumer.
        2. A conservatory-trained pianist, her music education started at Harlem School of the Arts.
        3. Zelda Wynn Valdes () was an African American fashion and costume designer whose career spanned 40 years.
        4. Zelda Wynn Valdes was a pioneering African-American fashion designer, whose glittering year career saw some of the biggest names in Hollywood dressed in her.


          5. Her unapologetically sexy, hip-hugging gowns were worn by celebrities like Marlene Dietrich and Harlem regular Mae West (below) in the 1920’s and 1930’s.

          In 1948, Ms. Wynn would opened her own boutique in Upper Manhattan in Washington Heights on Broadway and West 158th Street.

          She would later move ‘Chez Zelda’ midtown to 57th street and her sister, Mary Barbour, assisted her and supervised the staff of the store that attracted celebrities and diva’s from all walks of life.

          Legendary singer Ella Fitzgerald wore one of Zelda’s dresses in the 1940’s.

          Zelda spoke of designing for Ella in one of her last interviews with the NY Times, saying, “I just had a God-g