Good Morning POU!
Did you know some of the costumes designed for one of the most beloved television shows and one of the most storied productions in movie history were created by a black man?
James Daugherty sketched costumes for movie stars and became one of the first African-American fashion designers to display his own collection on New York’s Seventh Avenue.
The Los Angeles-born Daugherty grew up in a poor neighborhood and was working as a janitor at the Writers Building at Warner Bros. Studio when he began dropping his sketches on the desks of movie producers. Early on, Daugherty worked on costumes for I Love Lucy. “We had to design things that framed the face,” he said. “That’s why today I like sketching faces. The face comes first.”
Eventually, through a mutual friend, he was introduced to famed movie costume designer Edith Head, a meeting that proved to be his big break. Daugherty got his career start sketching for Head on The Ten Commandments.
Daugherty sketched for costume designers Sheila O’Brien and Jean Louis on several Joan Crawford movies, including Female on the Beach.
Said Daugherty, “Sheila was nice to me, though Joan was not nice to Sheila; it was like she didn’t respect her. To see Joan Crawford in those gowns, with coats and furs! It was unbelievable—but that’s what she wanted. The first time I met her, she’d just had a face lift. She still had bandages.” He also worked on Queen Bee. “That one was over-the-top—but it worked.” In an interview, Daugherty’s eyes twinkled a bit when he said, “What went around the lot was, ‘All you need for Joan is a bed and a bottle of vodka.’ She loved sex!” Daugherty worked with fabled interior designer Tony Duquette on his costumes for Kismet, and personally sketched for Rita Hayworth.
He loved it, he said, but in the 60s, Hollywood began using ready-to-wear clothes for costumes, and he was out of a job.
He came east and worked for designers Bill Blass, James Galanos, and Rudi Gernreich before establishing his own company. It produced elegant sportswear until 1979.
James Daugherty died in 2013 at age 85.