Ann Lowe (1898? - 1981), referred to by the Saturday Evening Post in 1964 as "Society's Best Kept Secret" was no secret during her long career. Her work as a designer for members of America's Social Register was defined by extraordinary craftsmanship and innovative design. Her career, which began in Clayton, Alabama eventually carried her to her own atelier in New York City. Based Winterthur's exhibition, Ann Lowe, American Couturier (2023), this lecture is an armchair tour through the largest display of Lowe's work to date and a celebration of a previously under-recognized, yet barrier-breaking, American designer.

Alexandra Deutsch, a graduate of Vassar College and the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, is the John L. and Marjorie P. McGraw Director of Collections at the Winterthur Museum. She leads Winterthur’s Collections Division that includes curatorial, conservation, registration, exhibitions, estate history, interpretation and programming. Prior to arriving at Winterthur in 2019, she was Vice-President of Collections and Interpretation and Chief Curator at the Maryland Center for History and Culture, formerly the Maryland Historical Society. Her publications include Spectrum of Fashion (2019), Structure and Perspective: David Brewster Explores Maryland’s Social Landscape (2017) and Woman of Two Worlds: Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (2016) and she has written and lectured about various topics in American material culture throughout her career with a particular emphasis on women’s and fashion history.