Wesley Tann

John Wesley Tann Jr (July 17, 1928 – November 23, 2012) was an American fashion designer. His clientele included Jacqueline Kennedy, Diahann Carroll, Carmen de Lavallade, Leontyne Price, Jennie Grossinger and several Miss Americas. His 1962 collection included several sari-inspired dresses.

In his later life, he worked in interior design, including work on The Pentagon, and later moved to Newark and taught etiquette.

A road in Newark, New Jersey, is named for him.

Early life and education John Tann was born on July 17, 1928, in Rich Square, North Carolina, to John Wesley Tann, a farmer, and Abbie (Mitchell), a dressmaker, who taught him to sew. He had a sister, Mabel. He lived with congressman Rep. Adam Clayton Powell for around six years. Already in a small studio on Manhattan's West 27th Street, he opened a shop to promote other young designers. According to the New York Amsterdam News, it was on New York City's Seventh Avenue and he was the first to do so. According to Nancy Diehl, it was "outside the main industry centre on Seventh Avenue". He later submitted a sheath design for Michelle Obama. He taught and encouraged younger Black designers in New York, after his shop closed in 1965. Wesley Tann cut velvet coat, ca. 1960s. Adnan Ege Kutay Collection. Following Jacqueline Kennedy's goodwill tour of India and Pakistan in 1962, when she had brought back several saris with the intention to make them into dresses, for a short while the sari-inspired dress gained enough interest to inspire several designers including Tann to design dresses based on the sari. He also donated his time and talents to decorating homes for Newark's Habitat for Humanity program.

Recognition In the 1960s, Women's Wear Daily called him a "young individualist" and noted that Tann always designed completely lined dresses and his ideas were "bold" with "careful workmanship". In 1973 Women's Wear Daily featured Tann in an article titled "The American Spirit of '73", in which they credited his early pioneering work in fashion. J. C. Penney featured Tann in a page giving tribute to Black Americans in 1999; it was published in several publications. In 2004, the Fashion and Arts Xchange credited him with "pioneering contributions". In 2007, Ebony called him "among the first Blacks to have a successful and visible clothing business in the country's fashion centre on Seventh Avenue in New York". He was part of two museum exhibitions; Black Style Now, at the Museum of the City of New York in 2006 and 2007, and at the Museum of Fashion Institute of Technology's Black Fashion Designers exhibition in 2016 and 2017.

Death and legacy Tann died on November 23, 2012. A road in Newark, New Jersey, is named for him.