WWD revisits the lasting influence of Luis Estévez and Fernando Sánchez, two Hispanic designers who helped shape American fashion.

In 1990, the Hispanic Designers Inc. organization held its sixth annual gala and fashion show, recognizing Luis Estévez with its Lifetime Achievement Award and Fernando Sánchez with the MODA award, for their contributions to fashion. By then, both couture-trained designers had already left their marks, building legacies in New York and Los Angeles that helped define American fashion.

A Havana, Cuba, native, Estévez, (1930-2014) the grandson of sugar tycoon Santiago Estévez, arrived in New York in the late 1950s. A student of architecture, Estévez’s turn to fashion came when he took a summer job in the display department at Lord & Taylor, then a beacon of progress in retail.

Connections to the social set took him to Paris, where he worked and trained under French couturier Jean Patou, known for his luxury ready-to-wear, knitwear and perfumes. But New York kept calling and he returned. In the mid-1960s, he set up the fashion label Grenelle-Estévez, a partnership with Fred and Robert Greenberg and Ben Papell. Understanding that location matters, he opened a showroom at 550 Seventh Avenue, the landmark Garment Center building that launched the careers of noted American designers and friends, including Oscar de la Renta.

In 1967, though his business in New York was on an upswing, he decided to seek the sun, sparkle and social sway of L.A., “I wanted the Havana of my youth…,” he told WWD.

His clientele included Hollywood stars like Lana Turner, Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor, Merle Oberon, Natalie Wood and Princess Grace of Monaco.

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