Zelda Wynn Valdes

Valdes dressed Ella Fitzgerald, Josephine Baker, Dorothy Dandridge and Eartha Kitt from her New York studio, cutting gowns that followed the body closely at a time when few couture houses catered to Black women. She is traditionally credited with designing the first Playboy Bunny costume, though how much of it was hers alone is disputed. Her longest legacy was backstage. From 1970 she designed costumes for Arthur Mitchell's Dance Theatre of Harlem, working on 82 productions, and she is credited with dyeing dancers' tights to match their skin tones instead of using standard pink.