Carlota Alfaro (born June 4, 1933) is a high

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

designer. She is known as "Puerto Rico's grande dame of fashion".

Biography

Alfaro was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico and showed a passion for design ever since she was a child, often designing clothes for family and friends. She was raised in Santurce where her aunt taught her how to sew. Alfaro reached international fame in Latin America, Europe and the United States during the 1960s, decade in which she also created the ''Instituto Carlota Alfaro'', aimed towards passing on her knowledge to young fashion design students. Alfaro's specialty is

haute couture ''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...

. During the 1980s, she published a series of designs in a local newspaper's fashion column, called . Her signature dress is the exaggerated mermaid cut. Alfaro has received many international awards, and her collections have been sold at stores around the world, including Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Avenue.

References

1933 births Living people Puerto Rican fashion designers Puerto Rican non-fiction writers People from Santurce, Puerto Rico {{fashion-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References