Nono Maldonado (born in Mayagüez) is a Puerto Rican

fashion design Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...

er and entrepreneur who has also done

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

. He was a fashion editor at

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

magazine in the 1970s before returning to Puerto Rico, where he continued to work in the fashion industry.

Personal life and career

Fashion editor

Maldonado, born in

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is a city and the eighth-largest municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez, and is also known as ''La Sultana del Oeste'' (The Sultaness of the West), ''Ciudad de las Aguas Pura ...

, learned about good taste as a child at the hand of his parents, Raúl, an agricultural engineer, and Esperanza, a homemaker. In 1967 and started his career in the fashion world as a buyer at

Bloomingdale’s Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a divi ...

in New York. He left Bloomingdale’s to become the Assistant Fashion Director of the Men’s Fashion Association, the promotion agency for men’s wear designers and manufacturers. He was also buyer, designer and public relations consultant for several boutiques in New York. He was named Fashion Editor for

magazine from 1972 to 1975. During these years he was twice elected to the International List of the World’s Best Dressed Men directed then by the well-known publicist

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 ...

, now published yearly by Vanity Fair Magazine. Maldonado has also been on the editorial team of

Caras The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) is a non-profit organization responsible for promoting Canadian music and artists. It administers the Juno Awards, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the MusiCounts music education char ...

, a high-fashion magazine.

Fashion designer

He returned to Puerto Rico in 1976 and in June 1977 opened his own boutique and started designing for men under his own label. In 1980 he presented his first women’s wear collection. In September 2014, Maldonado was a judge for the San Juan Moda fashion show. San Juan fashion week takes place twice a year.

Interior design

In early 2017, along with Hirsch Bedner Associates of San Francisco, Maldonado was tasked with redesigning the ballroom of the luxurious St. Regis Bahía Beach Resort in

Río Grande, Puerto Rico Río Grande () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located on the eastern edge of the Northern Coastal Valley, north of Las Piedras, Naguabo and Ceiba; east of Loíza and Canóvanas and west of Luquillo. Río Grande is spread over eigh ...

References

External links

In Puerto Rico Magazine - Nono Maldonado 2019 scholarship announcement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maldonado, Nono 1945 births Living people People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican fashion designers