Marty Ruza of "Ruza Creations"/"Elegant Belts" was an American designer of leather

fashion accessories In fashion, an accessory is an item used to contribute, in a secondary manner, to an individual's outfit. Accessories are often chosen to complete an outfit and complement the wearer's look. They have the capacity to further express an individual ...

who won a

Coty Award The Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards (awarded 1943–1984) were created in 1942 by the cosmetics and perfume company Coty, Inc. to promote and celebrate American fashion, and encourage design during the Second World War. In 1985, the Coty Awa ...

for

jewelry design Jewellery design is the art or profession of designing and creating jewellery. This is one of civilization's earliest forms of decoration, dating back at least 7,000 years to the oldest known human societies in Indus Valley Civilization, Mesopo ...

in 1970. He was described by the fashion journalist

Eleanor Lambert Eleanor Lambert (August 10, 1903 – October 7, 2003) was an American fashion publicist. She was instrumental in increasing the international prominence of the American fashion industry and in the emergence of New York City as a major fashion ca ...

as the "leader of the fringed leather and beads school". Ruza won his Special Coty Award along with five other jewelry designers - Bill Smith, Daniel Stoenescu and Steven Brody at

Cadoro Cadoro, or Cadoro Jewels Corporation, was a Manhattan-based jewelry company founded in 1954 by Steven Brody and Daniel Stoenescu (aka Staneskieu), specialising in fashionable costume jewelry sold via department stores such as Neiman Marcus and Saks ...

Alexis Kirk Alexis Kirk (29 December 1936 – 17 May 2010) was an American jewelry designer who also designed clothing and fashion accessories. Early life Kirk, although born in Los Angeles, and brought up in New England, self-identified as Armenian. H ...

, and Cliff Nicholson. For the Coty show, his jewelry, along with matching belts and bags, was showcased in a short film montage by

Milton Greene Milton H. Greene (March 14, 1922 – August 8, 1985) was an American fashion and celebrity photographer and film and television producer, best known for his photo shoots with Marilyn Monroe. Early life Greene was born Milton H. Greengold ...

. Whilst his leather goods were described as jewel-like, Ruza's company, Elegant Belts, specialised in belts, bags and headbands rather than focussing on jewelry like the other recipients of the Special award. Among Ruza's designs were the "sewing bag tote" designed for women who wanted to carry their needlework around with them, and bags and belts in embroidered vinyl. Elegant Belts was still in business in the early 1980s, with Ruza as its president.

References

American jewelry designers Living people American fashion designers Year of birth missing (living people) {{Fashion-designer-stub