Designer: Cynthia Rowley

by Bart Boehlert
(Page 2)

A recently won CFDA Perry Ellis New Fashion Talent award has turned the spotlight directly on Cynthia Rowley. As with most "overnight successes" though, Rowley has been working very hard for a long time. She grew up in Barrington, Illinois, "the Greenwich, Connecticut of Chicago," she says, "it's a really geeky town." As a kid, Rowley knew nothing about fashion. In college, she recounts, "a roommate said to me, 'You like to draw and you like to sew. Why not combine the two and be a fashion designer?' I said, 'O.K.'"

Rowley studied at Chicago's Art Institute. One day, a buyer from Marshall Fields stopped her on the train to ask who made her clothes. "I did," said Rowley, "I'm a fashion designer." The buyer told her to present her collection in the office on Monday morning. Rowley spent a frantic weekend buying fabric and sewing five pieces. When the buyer placed an order, she asked, "What style number is this?" Rowley replied, "One." The buyer asked, "What's the price?" Rowley said, "How much can you sell it for?" "I had no idea what I was doing," says Rowley now, "but I was, like, 'Cool, I'm in business."'

A roommate said to me,
"Why not be a fashion designer?"

I said,
"O.K.".