Using sketches she drew, Alexander-Lane made clothing for her mother, siblings and dolls with fabric she picked up at the Five & Dime store.

[3][4][5] In the 1940s, Alexander-Lane started her career path in the federal government, and soon after ran a fashion boutique in Washington D.C.[9] Around this time, she also worked as a freelance photographer for African-American newspapers, and became vice president of the Capital Press Club.

[5] After leaving the federal government, Alexander-Lane opened the Black Fashion Museum in Harlem in 1979 with a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.

She had trouble acquiring garments, as many of the designers had worked for wealthy white women, and the majority of the collection consisted of accessories and memorabilia.

[2]: 1  The collection comprises about two thousand garments designed, fabricated or worn by African-Americans to tell the story of women and men of the African diaspora.

[3] Alexander-Lane designed an extended line of garments, mostly for wealthy sponsors, such as the Rockefeller, Roosevelt, and du Pont families.