Narciso Rodriguez was born in New Jersey in 1961 to Cuban
parents. He studied at Parsons School of Design in New York, and
upon graduation worked for designers such as Anne Klein, TSE,
and Calvin Klein. His parents were not overly happy that Narciso
choose fashion as his career. They would have much rather seen
him in something more serious such as architecture.
Whether on the runway or on the red carpet, designer Narciso
Rodriguez is in demand. He began is designer career in 1985 as a
design assistant for fashion legend Anne Klein. Narciso has a
gift for fitting a dress so that it is flattering to the shape
of the woman’s body. “It’s so fantastic,” Narciso says, “to
create a frame for a woman’s personality and her true beauty.”
While working at Calvin Klein Narciso and Carolyn Bessette
[later to become Carolyn Kennedy] became best friends. It was
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s wedding dress design that brought
Narciso front and center stage in the design world. Narciso’s
wedding dress design for Carolyn was the buzz around the world.
On September 21, 1996, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy stepped out of
church on the arm of John F. Kennedy Jr. Women went gaga,
literally drooling over Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s wedding
dress.
Carolyn’s wedding dress was made from pure white silk. This
simple dress was combined dress elegance, classiness, and
sexiness into one knockout package. Woman began to realize a
wedding dress could in fact look sexy. This was a whole new
concept, never heard of before. For years most women had landed
up looking like an overstuffed pilsbury dough boy on their
wedding day. Narciso had accomplished in Carolyn’s wedding gown
what women thought to be impossible. She had been transformed
into this bewitching sexy princess. That look was created by one
of her best friends, Narciso Rodriguez. It was Carolyn’s wedding
dress that made Narciso’s a household name.
Once word got out who had designed the dress, Narciso was in
demand by every major designer in the world. A dream came true
when Narciso joined the house of LMVH. The draw back to this
career move was that Narciso spent his life living out of a
suitcase with very little time to spend with family and friends
which he valued and missed dearly. Narciso pressed on encouraged
by the idea that he had finally “made it.” However, working for
a large company can often stifle ones own independent design
ideas, and it wasn’t long before Narciso discovered he no longer
loved his work. The turning point in his life was when Carolyn
Bessette Kennedy was was killed in a plane accident. Narciso had
lost one of his dearest and best friends and for him this was a
reality check and a wake up call.. Life without friends, family
and the love of his work didn’t seem like such a great
opportunity anymore. Narciso left LVMH and came home realizing
what he needed was the freedom of his own design collection.
Narciso was able to focus on his own line of clothing creating
the perfect look for woman. Rather than designing dresses for
matchsticks, Narciso’s designs accentuated the curves and
bustline of the woman, creating what was called a real woman
design. Narciso Latin background came through in his designs
with each having a hint of Latin flare. Narciso said Latino
women had figures and were proud of that fact so they were
perfect for where he wanted to go with his designs. Narciso
talents as a designer were so good, he was even able to make the
petite woman look voluptuous. Sarah Jessica Parker, Sheryl Crow
and Salma Hayek all wore exquisite gowns designed by Narciso.
Not one of these celebs was 6 feet tall, yet the fit of these
gowns was to die for. In the spring of 1998 Narciso debuted his
ready to wear signature collection in Milan. It made it into
virtually every major fashion magazine. Rodriguez’s American
experience and Latin roots, combined with his flair for European
tradition of fine design, are all part of his great success. In
1997 Narciso won Best New Designer from the VH1 Fashion Awards,
and was awarded Hispanic Designer of the Year. In 1998 he won
the CFDA Perry Ellis Award, In the past these honors have gone
to designers such as Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera. In
the past two years Rodriguez has been with the CFDA Awards: In
both 2002 and 2003 he won the Womenswear Designer of the Year.
In a more recent issue of O Magazine Oprah Winfrey stands
proudly wearing a golden dress designed by non other than
Narciso. Now believe it or not this dress just isn’t gold in
color, it is made of gold metal that has been pressed to make a
dress fabric. The dress can be seein in O Magazine as well as at
oprah.com.
Narciso is like a breath of fresh air when it comes to woman’s
fashion. He designs for real woman. If you are interested in
Narciso Rodrigues and his designs visit his web page at
http://www.narcisorodriguez.com/narciso