Narciso Rodríguez: 1961(?)—: Fashion Designer

By early 1998 Rodríguez's own line was selling well at premium fashion retailers like Barney's and Neiman Marcus, and the Loewe items, expanded to a full line shown in Paris in March, was also proving a hit with women customers. The dual feat earned him the CFDA's Perry Ellis award for best new designer of 1997, one of the industry's most prestigious awards and a tremendous career-booster. Rodríguez was overwhelmed, as he told Women's Wear Daily writer Rusty Williamson. "It was like a giant whoosh of excitement and happiness all rolled into one when they called my name at the awards ceremony," the designer recalled.

Rodríguez continued his line for Loewe until 2001, when he announced that his Spring 2002 line would be his last for the Madrid house. Leaving the deep-pocketed LVMH umbrella, some felt, was a daring move. "I gave up all the prestige, all the money," Rodríguez said in the Harper's Bazaar interview with Zimbalist, noting that he felt compelled now to spend more time on his own line. "People said, 'Are you crazy?'" Still, the decision meant that Rodríguez could stay more permanently at his home in New York City's East Village, where he had lived since the early 1990s, and less time on trans-Atlantic flights. Later in 2001 he signed a deal with Beaute Prestige International (BPI), a unit of Shiseido, to launch fragrance and makeup lines.