For more than four decades, Ralph Rucci has been assembling an atelier of uniquely talented, creative individuals who share both his aesthetic and his passion for meticulous workmanship. Since 1981, Rucci’s body of work has been evolving, garment by garment, using the most luxurious fabrics and most renowned specialized collaborators. Despite a quantum leap in both the quality and magnitude of his designs, Rucci’s evolutionary process moves at its own pace. New silhouettes and technical processes enter his oeuvre as the designer sees fit, not when external pressures dictate.
Nearly all of the artisanal techniques and exquisite, intricate hand-work exhibited in each collection were conceived, developed, and realized by Rucci and his team – a studio which has been collectively referred to as one of the finest in the world. Rucci and his team have always been very proud that every garment produced – samples and production – were made in his New York-based workrooms.
Rucci was greatly honored by The Federation de la Haute Couture e de la Mode in 2001 to be the first American designer in history invited to show an Haute Couture Collection in Paris as part of the official calendar and continued to show there for five seasons, as he showed his ready-to-wear collections in New York. After a 12-year hiatus, he was most honored to return to Paris to present his Fall/Winter 2019 Haute Couture Collection at the Hotel Ritz.
In 2016, after leaving the company he had built for more than thirty years, he dedicated himself to perfecting the fine art of Haute Couture in the French tradition and continues to work tirelessly toward that goal.
Rucci believes he was born to create his chosen metier and continually strives to inspire all who seek refinement, beauty, and quality workmanship in the world of fashion. He will always cherish experimentation in cut, proportion, and construction; he will always continue to seek ways in which to move his profession forward. Today, Rucci works at his new Couture Salon and Gallery, seeing clients individually and focusing on his art.
Rucci’s work has been featured in numerous museum exhibitions, including three solo shows, and is also the subject of two books: “Ralph Rucci: The Art of Weightlessness,” by Valerie Steele, Patricia Mears, and Claire Sauro; Yale University Press, 2007; and “Autobiography of a Fashion Designer: Ralph Rucci”, photographs by Baldomero Fernandez and text by Matthew Egan; Bauer and Dean Publishers, 2011. Rucci has also been the subject of a documentary film by David Boatman: “Ralph Rucci: A Designer and His House”, which premiered in 2008 on The Sundance Channel.
Rucci has also received many industry awards, including, among others, The “Artistry of Fashion” Award; The Couture Council of The Museum at FIT, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, 2006; A “Fashion Walk of Fame” Plaque on Seventh Avenue, New York, 2011; The “Andre Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award”, Savannah College of Art and Design, 2012; The “Lifetime Living Legend Award”, Fashion Group International of New York, 2019; and An “Honorary Doctorate Degree,” Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, 2022.
