Esteban Cortázar (May 17, 1984) is a noted fashion designer. He was born in Bogotá, Colombia and grew up in Miami, Florida. Cortázar is the youngest designer to have shown at Miami International Fashion Week, where he decided for a talent show to host a fashion show.
He wanted to "do nothing but sketch dresses and fashion all day".
The child of jazz signer Dominique Vaughan and artist Valentino Cortázar,[1] Esteban got his start in the fashion industry at 13 years of age when he showed sketches to Todd Oldham, a mentor he found under his apartment at Miami's News Café. While in New York for an Oldham show, Cortázar introduced himself to Bloomingdale's Director of Fashion Kal Ruttenstein, and soon afterward gave Ruttenstein a private showing.[2]
Cortázar studied fashion design at Design & Architecture Senior High in Miami's Design District, graduating in 2004.
Cortázar appeared in an episode of Top Chef on Bravo for the 2007 season.
In December 2007, Cortázar was appointed the position of Head Designer at Emanuel Ungaro where he worked until he was fired in 2009, after refusing to work with Lindsay Lohan. Lohan was appointed Artistic Director and Cortázar was replaced by Estrella Archs as the Head Designer at Ungaro.
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