Estevan Ramos

FIDM Alumni and Famed Designer Shares His Story

Sure, he dresses the likes of Christina Aguilera, Salma Hayek, Jessica Alba and Angelina Jolie, but more importantly, Los Angeles-based fashion designer Estevan Ramos creates innovative and wearable lines of glamorous clothing for women. His sexy cuts and culturally influenced fabrics make Estevan’s collections standout from the typical look of most designers. "I do real clothes," says the Los Angeles-based designer. "I like sexy clothes for sexy women."

You can find Estevan Ramos in stores such as Nordstrom and Traffic in the Beverly Center (Los Angeles) and in far-flung places like Japan’s Ishitan department store. Estevan and his fashions have been featured in a flurry of magazines and trade papers such as Time, Women’s Wear Daily, InStyle, California Apparel News and Seventeen.

In April 2002, Estevan and fellow FIDM alum Daniel Caudill opened Eastside, a retail space in Silver Lake, CA that carries Estevan’s duds as well as vintage pieces and "everything else."

Growing up "really poor" in East L.A., Ramos is the youngest of nine children and spent much of his childhood sketching and re-working clothes from thrift stores. He received a full scholarship to University of Southern California, majoring in architecture. "It wasn’t what I wanted to do," says Estevan. "But I didn’t think of fashion as an occupation."

After two years at USC, he enrolled at FIDM ("I looked in the Yellow Pages") in 1983, where he quickly became a star student. While at FIDM, Estevan was awarded the Bob Mackie Outstanding Student Design Scholarship, and things only went up from there. During his second year at FIDM, he worked for Steel Jeans, a junior denim line.

After graduating with honors from FIDM with a major in Fashion Design, he worked for several junior and contemporary firms as a trend forecaster and design director for junior denim and sportswear. In 1993, Estevan considered the idea of going out on his own. "Both companies I was working for were having internal financial problems and I figured it was inevitable," he explains. "I think I had paid my dues."

Estevan was already making clothing for sample sales and friends. While Estevan and a female pal were shopping at LA’s retail mecca Fred Segal, buyer John Eshaya asked who she was wearing. She pointed to Estevan. "He asked me if I had a line," Estevan says. "I said yes even though I didn’t and that’s how I started." Thus, Estevan Ramos, theclothing line was born.

His first collection was full of denim and linen in whites and neutrals. "I try not to follow the trend totally, but create my own niche," he says of the line. "My stuff isn’t really that mind boggling or crazy." Prior pieces have included sarong skirts, bright denim jackets and bandanna wrap halters. Estevan’s denim has been described as fitting "like a second skin."

Once the industry took notice of Estevan and his aesthetic, he was selected as a "Rising Star" by the Hispanic Designers Association, headed by über designers like Paloma Picasso, Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera. He has since been a part of events such as L.A. Fashion Week, Vintage L.A. and Vista L.A. and remains loyal to the Los Angeles industry.

Ramos is consistently honored as one of the biggest talents in the Latino community along with fellow FIDM alums David Cardona and David Rodriguez and he has held fashion shows at the Latino Museum of History and the Museum of Latin American Art. As for aspiring designers, Estevan believes a strong work ethic is the most important thing. "The instructors at FIDM are professionals and should be treated like they are your boss at a job," he says. "You don’t want to waste your time because this is like a business venture."