Date: 1961 -

Biography: On September 21, 1996, Narciso Rodriguez became a fashion star. On the steps of a tumbledown church on Cumberland Island, off the Georgia coast, Rodriguez’s friend Carolyn Bessette appeared wearing a dress that he had designed for her wedding to John F. Kennedy, Jr. The “sleekly minimalist ivory wedding dress” was created over a number of months, with two de rigueur couture fittings in Paris of three hours each, at an estimated cost of $40,000. “It's a very sensuous dress,” said Rodriguez of his “pearl-colored silk crepe creation,” his gift to the bride. “That's what we both wanted from the beginning.” On that day, it was a dress that became instantly famous. The dress was also an anomaly in the Rodriguez lexicon. Described as a “minimalist with heat,” the designer, since the debut of his eponymous line in 1997, has become rightfully known as one of the most astute sculptors of sharply chiseled dresses, coats, and separates. In many of his best designs, Rodriguez cuts numerous pattern pieces that are then joined to accentuate the shape of the wearer’s body. Narciso Rodriguez III was born in 1961, the first child and only son of Cuban parents who immigrated to Newark, New Jersey. Although his parents were vehemently opposed to their son becoming a fashion designer, Rodriguez earned a degree from Parsons the New School for Design. He eventually worked for Anne Klein (under Donna Karan); Calvin Klein, where he designed the Women’s Collection; the Paris-based company, Cerruti; and then the Spanish brand, Loewe. In 2005 and 2006, eight years after launching his own line, Rodriguez became the first American to win—two years in a row—the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s “Women’s Wear Designer of the Year Award.” By this time, however, Rodriguez had begun to experience some business difficulties. First, he ended his partnership with his label's manufacturer, Aeffe. Then, in 2007, Liz Claiborne acquired a fifty percent interest in his company—though Rodriguez bought back his name the following year. Yet despite the ups and downs of business, he remains one of the most important and visible fashion designers in the United States. Aside from a bevy of celebrities that have worn designs by Narciso Rodriguez , his clients have also included First Lady Michelle Obama.