In 1990, the Hispanic Designers Inc. organization held its sixth annual gala and fashion show, recognizing Luis Estévez with its Lifetime Achievement Award and Fernando Sánchez with the MODA award, for their contributions to fashion. By then, both couture-trained designers had already left their marks, building legacies in New York and Los Angeles that helped define American fashion.

Luis Estévez: From Havana to Hollywood

A Havana, Cuba, native, Estévez, (1930-2014) the grandson of sugar tycoon Santiago Estévez, arrived in New York in the late 1950s. A student of architecture, Estévez’s turn to fashion came when he took a summer job in the display department at Lord & Taylor, then a beacon of progress in retail.

Connections to the social set took him to Paris, where he worked and trained under French couturier Jean Patou, known for his luxury ready-to-wear, knitwear and perfumes. But New York kept calling and he returned.…