Narciso Rodriguez was born in Newark, New Jersey, USA, in 1961. He was the son of a Cuban dock worker who came originally from the Canary Islands.. He grew up in a poorer part of New Jersey. His parents were not very enthusiastic about his chosen career, fashion design. Fashion is not a very macho pursuit in Cuban society. He studied fashion design at Parson's School of Design, New York.

He started his career as a designer under Donna Karan at Anne Klein, then switched to Calvin Klein where he worked on that designers coat collection and fur line (since discontinued) In 1995, he was named design director of TSE, New York and after that he designed for one year at Cerruti in 1996. His designs for Cerruti were very well received and he became the hot new designer in town. This did not go down very well with Nino Cerruti, so he did not renew his contract.

Cerruti's loss was ABS's gain. ABS is America's best loved copy cat brand name manufacturer. It sells versions of the real thing for much lower prices.

In between, he has made arrangements to design clothes under his own label which are to be made in Milan by the Aeffe factories of Alberta Ferretti.

In 1997 Rodriguez then moved to Madrid, Spain, as womens ready-to-wear designer for the house of Loewe. He has now settled in, and the fantastic designs are flowing out.

While he was at Calvin Klein, he made friends with a PR girl named Carolyn Bessette and when she married John F. Kennedy Jr. Narciso Rodriguez made her wedding dress. It was a silk crepe column that catapulted Narciso out of obscurity.

Since then he has made Oscar dresses for Sigourney Weaver (claret satin, bias cut) for Claire Danes (ice blue cashmere with matching satin skirt) and many others.

In 1997, the US Hispanic Society gave him the Designer of the Year Award, and in 1998, he received the Perry Ellis Award from the CFDA.

In early 2001, Narciso Rodriguez declined to renew his contract with Loewe. In September 2001, AEFFE (Italy) agreed to finance production of his own label which started with Fall 2001 to great acclaim.

Here on the right, is a Vogue cover from June 2003, when actress Salma Hayek wore Narciso's white gown. Vogue is very fond of him, and shows his gowns very often.

This was a cover based on Inspiration Women, and Salma Hayek was profiled in this issue.

Spring/Summer 2003 Ready-to-Wear

Narciso presented his Spring/Summer 2003 collection at the New York Fashion Week in September 2002, which was greeted with applause. This dress is from that collection.

Designer of the Year

Narciso was awarded the title of Womenswear Designer of the Year for the second year running in June 2003.

Autumn/Winter 2003 Ready-to-Wear
New York - February 2003

The outfit on the right is one from the Autumn/Winter collection.

More streamlined than a Jaguar Narciso showed once again that cool and sexy can co-exist in one collection. His rigorously precise cutting and tailoring sculpted form-fitting dresses and suits. He has a fashion vocabulary all his own. His silhouette had more swing, in a flaring black velour coat and some beautiful floaty hems on dresses and skirts. He included cool columns of chiffon, matte silk or for the last number the coolest lavender silk, which breezed off the runway like a beautiful memory.

Spring/Summer 2004

Narciso Rodriguez's collection for this season was shown during New York Fashion Week in September 2003. A dress from the show is shown here on the left

He showed a run of subtle elegant dresses in white, grey, apricot, pale pink and cream jersey, with an occasional splash of red. It was straight-down-the-line New York sex appeal clothing. He had corsets flaring in pleats over pencil skirts, strapless body-hugging gowns, or smart tailored Capri pants under matching zip-front jackets.

Fall/Winter 2004

The Fall collection was shown during New York Fashion Week in February 2004. Narciso kept to his signature body-hugging designs in monastic black or cream but brought in a new sensuous look using electric-blue piping, satin ribbons, a sprinkling of fluffy fur and even - some ruffles. Everything was cut and shaped with his relentless attention to detail.

Spring/Summer 2005

During New York Fashion Week in September 2004, Narciso Rodriguez presented his Spring collection. An outfit of Bermuda shorts and top, from the show is pictured on the left.

Narciso escaped to the blue waters of Brazil offering aqua-blue tops edged in white cotton ribbing, terrific jackets and scuba shorts. For evening, his collection included dresses with small snug bodices. His loose floaty frocks really welcomed summer. He cuts like an architect, mapping the body's curves in careful arcs making a warm sexy end result. He used lightweight fabrics like papery silk, sheer cotton voile, linen and nylon in beautiful beach colours.

Fall/Winter 2005

The Fall/Winter collection was shown during New York Fashion Week in February 2005. This was not one of Narciso's quieter shows. He used plenty of black and white, but also some bright colours like fuschia suede. These jolted the audience used to his minimalism. However he was successful in his fabulous coats, from a pale-red double-face wool to a corsetted herringbone tweed. He created a cut-above-the-bust bolero in a cashmere, worn over one of his wonderful weightless gowns. Many of his outfits had scuba-tight seaming, you need to have a wonderful body to wear his clothes.

Heart Truth - Red Dress Collection

Narciso joined with many other designers to show a red dress at the Heart Truth Charity show which opened New York Fashion Week. His red dress was worn by singer Sheryl Crow, shown here on the left.

Spring/Summer 2006
New York

Narciso Rodriguez presented his Spring/Summer 2006 collection during New York Fashion Week in September 2005. A velvet dress from the collection is shown on the right.

He sent out a perfectly judged collection in shades of grey, black, offwhite and faded lavender. He offered contrasting textures from slippery satin to canvas and washed cotton. He loosened up his look, from the bold industerial zip fastenings to simple sandals. He has moved his line forward and entered fashion's big league.

2002Narciso Rodriguez(W)






2005