Raul Penaranda: A fashion designer fueled by creativity and a passion for fashion and the planet he lives on.
Manage episode 407331799 series 3559479
Raul Penaranda has been making his dreams of designing luxury women's wear with a mix of seductiveness and sophistication a reality. His collections celebrate the intrinsic beauty of the human spirit combined with his years of working in the industry. Raul has perfected expert craftsmanship and beautiful use of exquisite and unique fabrics to create a special avant-garde, yet wearable ready to wear collection. Raul has always boldly and beautifully been true to himself and is proud to incorporate his Latin heritage and roots into his design work and brand of style.
Raul's talent has not gone unnoticed. Only two years after debuting at New York Fashion Week, he was declared by FORBES magazine as one of the fastest growing fashion entrepreneurs to come out of the small business industry with his collection being manufactured here in the USA. Vogue-Mx named Raul 'The New King of New York Fashion Week', a moniker he carries proudly while continuing to perfect his exemplary craftsmanship, and big attention to small detail.
Raul was born in Cali, Colombia. He grew up in Caracas, Venezuela and moved to Miami, Florida with his family as a young adult. In 2000, Raul relocated to New York City where he was offered a freelance design position at Liz Claiborne, while enrolled at F.I.T and Parson's. Over the next ten years Raul chose to learn from the best, working for such fashion industry legends as Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan, Zac Posen, and Tommy Hilfiger. He has held key positions as Creative Director of Merchandise and Trend Services, Head Designer and Textile/CAD Designer. Each of these different houses expanded his ability to understand the business side and the creative side of the fashion industry.
As Pat and Phillip sat down for this intimate conversation with Raul, they realized that this fabulous creative fashion figure was equally as kind and spiritual and thoughtful of the environment and the world he lives in. He is of the world of fashion and that was where we found Raul, clearly able to stand stronger and more powerful than so many others in the fashion industry. He finds his inspiration and passion from his family, from his environment, and from the people that surround him. It is not just his creativity but is his heart, spirit, and passion that drives the beauty of his fashion business. We hope you will enjoy this fun and extraordinary fashion journey that Raul has been on as much as we did on this segment of Fashion and Passion from True Crime, Fashion, and Passion.
True Crime, Fashion, and Passion is recorded and edited at DNR Studios in New York, NY. The podcast is hosted by Phillip Bloch, cohosted by Carol Alt and Pat Cleveland. Our Senior Producer is Annie Quaile. Illustrations created by Antonio Contreras. Follow him at @antonioeldeseo on Instagram.
Special thanks to Paul van Ravenstein, Romaine Patterson, Andrew Bagley, and the entire DNR Studios crew. Additional thanks to Vinnie Postestivo. Visit us on the web at truecrimefashionandpassion.com, on Twitter @crimefashionpod and Instagram and Facebook at @TrueCrimeFashionandPassion.
21 episodes