UPCLOSE & PERSONAL: Ralph Rucci

December 5, 2007


Paris, France - It has been at least 2 years since the last occasion where I found the time to conduct an old-fashioned, sit down interview with a major force in the international fashion industry. When the opportunity came along to do just that on Thanksgiving morning with the American couturier Ralph Rucci, how could I refuse such a delicious opportunity?

Ralph Rucci and I formerly met for the first time backstage at the Palais de Tokyo where he staged the presentation of his Spring/Summer 2008 ready-to-wear and couture collections. Interviewing him at that time for our Fashion Insider television program, Ralph requested that I address him by his first name instead of the “Mr. Rucci” as I had accustomed myself. With the interview over, I remained backstage where I observed Ralph and came to the logical conclusion that is a man of great calm, elegance and sereneness, yet one who obsesses over his quest to add perfection into his creations. After all, he does boast of a clientele primarily composed famous and wealthy women like Oprah Winfrey, Marjorie Fisher, Jan Calloway and Nancy Brinker. Yet in the past, Rucci was not on the radar of certain of the world’s biggest journalists, who actually snobbed him for 20 years. Now today, they like his wealthy clients flock to Paris to crowd the front rows of his shows.

Like so many designers before and after him like Gianfranco Ferré, Paco Rabanne and Ozwald Boateng, Rucci originally felt that his destiny lay elsewhere. He received a degree in philosophy and literature from Temple University . While conducting research for a paper, he stumbled upon photos of fashion designs created by Cristobal Balenciaga. That was the faithful moment in which Ralph’s own life would take a dramatic turn and his true destiny would unfold...

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