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Isabel Toledo at her Penthouse Studio, New York City

Isabel Toledo at her Penthouse Studio, New York City
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Alexis Rodríguez-Duarte, born 1962
Stylist
Tico Torres, born 1961
Sitter
Isabel Toledo, born 1961
Date
May 21, 1998 (printed 2016)
Type
Photograph
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 34.2 × 22.9 cm (13 7/16 × 9")
Sheet: 35.2 × 27.9 cm (13 7/8 × 11")
Topic
Interior
Nature & Environment\Plant
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Table
Artwork\Painting
Architecture\Window
Religious
Artwork\Sculpture\Statue
Isabel Toledo: Female
Isabel Toledo: Visual Arts\Designer\Fashion designer
Portrait
Place
United States\New York\Kings\New York
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Alexis Rodriguez-Duarte
Object number
NPG.2016.94
Exhibition Label
Born Camajuaní, Cuba
Known as one of the best fashion designers of her generation, Isabel Toledo was admired for her inventively structured and impeccably built garments. Toledo learned how to sew from her childhood nanny and later attended the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Parsons School of Design. More significant, however, was her experience at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, where she restored twentieth-century couture dresses, becoming intimately familiar with their construction. Her design method evolved from there: She would begin with the material, describing her ideas to her husband, fashion illustrator Rubén Toledo, who would translate them into drawings. The couple collaborated for four decades.
Having debuted her first collection in 1984, Toledo later abandoned the traditional runway cycle, presenting new creations in museums and producing niche-market designs that combined fine craftmanship with ready-to-wear accessibility. First Lady Michelle Obama wore a Toledo dress and coat to her husband’s first inauguration.
Nacida en Camajuaní, Cuba
Conocida como una de las mejores diseñadoras de moda de su generación, Isabel Toledo fue admirada por sus creaciones de estructura imaginativa y confección impecable. Aprendió a coser con su niñera y luego estudió en el Instituto de Tecnología de la Moda y la Escuela Parsons de Diseño. Tuvo su experiencia más significativa en el Instituto del Vestuario del Museo Metropolitano de Arte, donde restauró vestidos de alta costura del siglo XX y se familiarizó con su confección. Desde entonces, su método de diseño evolucionó: empezaba con los materiales y describía sus ideas a su esposo, el ilustrador de modas Rubén Toledo, quien las transformaba en dibujos. La pareja colaboró durante cuatro décadas.
Tras presentar su primera colección en 1984, Toledo abandonó las pasarelas para presentar sus creaciones en museos y diseñar para nichos del mercado que combinaban la confección fina con la accesibilidad del prêt-à-porter. La primera dama Michelle Obama usó un vestido y un abrigo de Toledo en la primera toma de posesión de su esposo.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view