Slow and Steady

Narciso Rodriguez took a step back from fashion. Now he's returned with a quiet, measured new approach.

- Véronique Hyland

One of Narciso Rodriguez's prized possessions is a pair of Victorian gloves, made painstakingly by hand. It's a reminder that, as he says, "Good things last, and they're meaningful." Creating those lasting, meaningful things is Rodriguez's North Star right now. When he founded his namesake brand in 1997, he quickly became a boldface fashion name. At the outset of COVID, he shuttered his label, though he continued to design for private clients and run his thriving fragrance business with Shiseido. In the interim, he underwent what he calls "my personal reinvention," redrawing the lines of his career.

That meant carving out a smaller, more focused existence that allows him to stop work every day at 2:45 to pick up his sevenyear-old twins from their school-conveniently located just around the corner from his studio. His kids can ride their scooters around his atelier while he arranges his fabric swatches or fits his custom designs. He now has the freedom to "create a collection that's not on a deadline, and on my terms, and forge a new way forward," he says. "I just don't want to be trapped in a machine. I want to get back to the things that bring me joy: my craft, the materials. And it's been a great experience, because I've had the luxury of time to perfect this concept."