Adolfo (designer)

[2] As his mother had died in childbirth, Adolfo was brought up by an aunt who enjoyed wearing French haute couture, and encouraged her nephew to pursue fashion design.

When he was 16, his aunt began taking him to fashion shows in Paris, where he met Coco Chanel, but was too shy to talk to her at the time.

[4] Following this, with his aunt's help, Adolfo joined Cristóbal Balenciaga as an apprentice milliner, where his first job was picking pins up off the floor.

[7] With financial help from Bill Blass,[9] Adolfo opened his first salon in New York in 1963, where he met many of the customers who would become his patrons when he gave up millinery to focus on clothing.

[10] At first Adolfo's extravagant, elaborately ornamental clothing seemed at odds with the relaxed principles behind American sportswear.

[10] He created individually beautiful garments designed to be worn together or separately, commenting in 1968 that "one has to dress in bits and pieces — the more the merrier.

"[10] His 1960s "fun and fantasy" looks included richly embellished bolero jackets, organdy blouses, and evening ensembles made from antique patchwork quilts which were worn by the likes of Gloria Vanderbilt.

[1] In 1993, at the age of 70, Adolfo decided to retire from fashion design and rely on the income from his licensing agreements with various manufacturers.

[5] Licensed Adolfo merchandise, including menswear, hats and accessories, luggage, sportswear, furs and perfume, was retailed widely at all consumer levels from Bloomingdale's through to J. C. Penney and the television shopping network QVC.