Fashion Design

Ralph Rucci

Ralph Rucci established his womenswear label, Chado Ralph Rucci, in 1994. Named after the Japanese tea ceremony, Chado embodies Rucci’s highly intricate yet restrained aesthetic, which is influenced by sources ranging from Balenciaga to Asian symbolism and abstract painters such as Cy Twombly. An ambassador for American fashion, Rucci presented his first haute-couture collection in Paris in 2002, becoming one of only two Americans in history to be on the official calendar of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Both his ready-to-wear and haute-couture lines distinguish themselves with their impeccable craftsmanship, luxurious fabrics, and subtle embellishments. Rucci’s work has been featured in Cooper-Hewitt’s 2006 National Design Triennial and in retrospectives at The Costume Institute of the Kent State University Museum, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and The Phoenix Art Museum.