 |
Esteban Cortazar: Young, Veteran Fashion DesignerAt 20, designer Esteban Cortazar is already an old hand of the fashion industry. The Colombia native, who grew up in Miami, is presenting his fifth major show during New York City's Fashion Week festivities. NPR's Neda Ulaby has a profile of Cortazar as part of a Morning Edition fashion series.
Cortazar, whose father was an artist and his mother a jazz singer, emigrated from Colombia a decade ago and landed in the middle of South Beach's hot fashion scene.
"Coming to Miami was a culture shock because I was able to see drag queens, I saw designers, I saw fashionistas, I saw so many things," he says. "I was just a little boy, but that's all I could see!"
To Cortazar, the fashion world was a playground filled with fascinating adults. And it seemed perfectly normal to stage a runway show at his elementary school -- a nine-piece collection, with a Little Red Riding Hood theme, modeled by fellow students.
Rod Stafford Hagwood, fashion critic for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, says the world of fashion probably isn't the best place for most adolescents, but Cortazar was totally focused on his work. Cortazar strengthened those technical skills by attending a magnet high school in Miami that specialized in design and architecture.
Todd Oldham, who had a store in Miami Beach, is one of many world-famous designers Cortazar
more: www.npr.org/features/feature.php?... (183)
9/9/2004 | Viewed 18,640 time(s)
|
|
