New York born Franklin Rowe attended the Laguardia high school of music and arts, whose notable graduates include Dianne Carrol, Billy Dee Williams, Kurtis Blow and Nat Adderly. Shortly after graduation Rowe was awarded a full scholarship to New York’s prestigious Traphagen School of Design, founded in the 1920s by Ethel Traphagen, a designer credited for introducing shorts and pants to American women’s fashion.
Rowe leaped to the forefront in black fashion design by combining vibrant African-American and elegant Euro sensibilities in timeless, intricately designed knockout collections. “My fabrics of choice are leather, silk, jerseys and natural fibers,” Rowe says. “My style is 1940s glamour meets 21st century chic.
More influenced by European style than American, my clothes have a timeless quality and are feminine and also red carpet fabulous.” Rowe’s Fall 2013 fashions embody a unique design legacy as it moves forward.