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 i ...
designer. She is known as "Puerto Rico's grande dame of fashion".
Biography
Alfaro was born in
Santurce, Puerto Rico
Santurce (, from the Basque ''Santurtzi'' which means Saint George) is a barrio or district in the municipality of San Juan. Its population in 2020 was 69,469. It is also the biggest and most populated of all the barrios in the capital city wit ...
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.
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
Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...
,
Bloomingdales
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 div ...
and
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington ...
.
See also
*
List of Puerto Ricans
*
History of women in Puerto Rico
The recorded history of Puerto Rican women can trace its roots back to the era of the ''Taíno'', the indigenous people of the Caribbean, who inhabited the island that they called "Boriken" before the arrival of Spaniards. During the Spanish c ...
References
1933 births
Living people
Puerto Rican fashion designers
Puerto Rican non-fiction writers
People from Santurce, Puerto Rico
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