Date: 1957 -

Biography: Ralph Rucci (1956– ) has been working as a designer since 1981, but he seemed to come from nowhere when he presented his first haute couture collection in Paris in 2002. What made this presentation, and subsequent others, so important was Rucci’s fanatical devotion to quality, workmanship, and a strong artistic aesthetic more akin to Parisian haute couture than American ready-to-wear. Born into a working-class family in Philadelphia, Rucci was first educated in Jesuit prepatory schools before studying liberal arts at Philadelphia’s Temple University. Soon after graduation, he took up dressmaking, both the craft and its history. He has been consistently and profoundly influenced by couturiers Balenciaga, Madame Grès, Charles James, and Halston. Additionally, he is an ardent student of art history, philosophy, and theology. He was so taken with Japanese philosophy that he named his company Chado, after the contemplative tea ceremony famous for its requisite 331 steps. While art is the foundation of Rucci’s design inspiration, materials and techniques are crucial to the finished creation. He has opted for the most luxurious materials (double-faced cashmeres, barguzine sable, and specially printed silks) and the finest in surface ornamentation (embroideries by Lesage). In addition, Rucci and key members of his in-house atelier staff have developed new dressmaking techniques—complete with the accompanying vocabulary—as well as mathematically complex construction methods. As a result, a Chado “Suspension” suit, made from dozens of amoeboid pattern pieces painstakingly pieced together by hand, and Rucci’s grand “Infanta” gowns have become magnificent visual additions to the American fashion landscape.