Chado Ralph Rucci is one of America’s most luxurious fashion houses, and one of the few remaining outposts of the great tradition of haute couture outside Paris. Its designs, inspired by the elegance and precision of the ancient Japanese ritual of the tea ceremony, or “Chado”, are produced using only the very highest quality materials, and their fine craftsmanship showcases the exquisite attention to detail found only in haute couture.
Ralph Rucci, the brand’s Italian-American founder and sole designer is held in high esteem by some of the fashion industry’s most influential figures, including former editor-in chief of American Vogue, Andre Leon Talley (who wears a different custom made Ralph Rucci design on each episode of the recent America’s Next Top Model series), Glenda Bailey of Harpers’ Bazaar and that doyenne of American taste, Martha Stewart.
The designer’s outstanding contribution to fashion was recognised in 2002 when he was one of only a handful of American designers invited to showcase his work at the prestigious Parisian haute couture shows. Yet despite the brand’s international influence and renown, it remains a tightly focused family business, and one of the few great fashion houses to stay under the sole creative direction of its founder.
Recently, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to speak with the designer’s sister and the woman behind the public face of Chado Ralph Rucci, Rosina Rucci. Her ability to combine a dedication to her work and to her family, added to her humble appreciation to her roots, makes Rosina not only a shrewd businesswoman but a grounded role model to anyone interested in the realities of working in the often cut- throat world of fashion.
Rosina has the challenging job of managing the PR for a world famous fashion house, juggling the roles of mother and businesswoman – with the added complications that arise from working for her brother. “A typical day starts out with the expectation that almost nothing will go as planned,” she states wryly. “Once I’ve determined my ability to be flexible, I’m fine.”
The average day begins with Rosina scouring the internet for recent mentions of Chado Ralph Rucci in international press clippings. In her inbox, she’ll find emails requesting samples for editorial shoots in fashion magazines, both American and international. As well as organising all the necessary paperwork for the samples, Rosina must arrange and plan events from art and fashion shows to cocktail parties, paying careful attention to invitations and seating plans while working closely to caterers, florists and event planners to ensure everything runs smoothly. Unexpected upsets can never be ruled out, be it the internet crashing or an emergency sample request from a celebrity for that evening.
As for the planning and organising of her own fashion shows for the Chado Ralph Rucci line, Rosina explains that it is not so much difficult as it is time consuming. Rosina describes the millions of little elements that influence the success of a show, but it’s her keen attention to the smallest details that really matters when planning a show. Asked what one can expect from the coming collection, Rosina reveals that the designs are, as far as she’s concerned, the best Ralph Rucci has ever produced.
Despite her current success in the industry, Rosina never initially dreamed of a career in fashion. She attended Philadelphia’s Temple University, majoring in journalism, but struggled to balance her studies with a busy social life. “I had a hard time of keeping myself focused on a path toward my future so, after about two years of that, I decided to quit.” Having opted to leave university, Rosina followed her dream of working and living in Italy, a life experience that she maintains she will never regret, stressing the importance of experiencing earning one’s own way, and broadening one’s horizons through travel. Explaining, however, that she eventually came to realise the importance of a good education, she returned to Temple to complete her degree. Acquiring the in-depth knowledge of the fashion industry that has taken her to where she is today happened, she explains “quite unintentionally” thanks to her brother, via a process she describes as “osmosis”.
Her most memorable fashion moment remains the first show she ever attended, for Halston in the Olympic Tower in New York back in the late 70s. “I still remember being so strongly and viscerally overwhelmed by the beauty of the clothes, the models and the people watching – Diana Vreeland, Elsa Peretti, Carol Channing, Liza Minnelli and so many very chic and beautiful New York women who looked so smashing yet so casually American.” But since then, Rosina’s distinguished career has been marked by many more extraordinary achievements. Recalling her feelings when her brother joined the ranks of the select handful of American designers invited to showcase their work during the haute couture shows in Paris, she remembers how her thoughts turned to her family’s humble Italian roots, of her grandparents and their rural Italian villages, and of her brother’s incredible success. She describes the idea of exploding with pride with an understatement “To be invited to showcase couture with the French is pretty heady stuff.”
For Rosina, “nothing can ever come close to the importance of family and good friends and the constant efforts one makes to keep those relationships strong, healthy and always present.” Despite working in an industry where many lose a sense of who they are, Rosina comes across incredibly grounded and at peace with herself. Finding a balance between her work and the need to tend to her family relationships requires, she admits, constant attention and can be extremely stressful – a problem that other high-profile women in the industry such as Phoebe Philo of Céline, have also commented upon. Rosina maintains, however, that family ties will always be of the utmost importance. As a single mother to a thirteen year old boy, her biggest priority in life is to raise her son well, instilling in him good morals and spiritual values. Although she juggles a glamorous and highly demanding career with her home life, Rosina still manages the impressive feat of ensuring that she is home to prepare and share a meal every night around the table with her son, a tradition that recalls the values instilled by her Italian roots.
The advice Rosina would offer others is simple. “Whether it’s a career in fashion or down the local petrol station, it really does not matter. What does matter is that you must love – I’ll say that again – you must love what you do.” It’s not only a case of doing something you love, but of finding a cause, a passion: “It’s really only when you feed your soul well that you can contribute meaningfully to the important people in your life and to the world at large.”
Images courtesy of Chado Ralph Rucci
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