Joseph Altuzarra (born 1983), is a French-American luxury women's ready-to-wear clothing designer. He launched his brand, Altuzarra, in New York in 2008. His brand is influenced by his multicultural upbringing and his international education in fashion. His design of a women's evening gown was featured on the runway of the 2019

Met Gala The Met Gala, formally called the Costume Institute Benefit, is the annual haute couture fundraising festival held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in Manhattan. The Met Gala was and still is popularly rega ...

evening.

Early life and education

Altuzarra was born in 1983 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, to a

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

mother and a French father. His parents are both investment bankers. He spent his childhood in Paris’ 7th arrondissement. As a boy he studied ballet for eight years. Altuzarra graduated from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in art and art history. Upon heading to New York, he interned at

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...

before his post at

Proenza Schouler Proenza Schouler is a womenswear and accessories brand founded in New York City in 2002 by designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. In October 2024 Proenza Schouler appointed Shira Suveyke Snyder as chief executive officer, succeeding Kay ...

. Seeking to further enhance his technical construction skills, Altuzarra then apprenticed with patternmaker Nicolas Caïto, the former head of the

Rochas Rochas is a fashion, beauty, and perfume house founded in 1925 by French designer Marcel Rochas, the first designer of 2/3-length coats and skirts with pockets and one of the two designers, along with Elsa Schiaparelli, who launched the fashion f ...

atelier. He later returned to Paris, working as first assistant to

Givenchy Givenchy (, ) is a French luxury fashion and perfume house. It hosts the brand of haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics of Parfums Givenchy. The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert d ...

Riccardo Tisci Riccardo Tisci (; born 1974) is an Italian fashion designer. He studied in Italy at the Design Istituto d’Arte Applicata in Cantù until the age of 17, and then graduated from London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 1999 ...

''Altuzarra''

In its early years, the Altuzarra brand was self-financed with help from Altuzarra’s family; his mother Karen served as the company's CEO. The first collection was picked up by

Dover Street Market Dover Street Market is a multi-brand retailer originally located on Dover Street, in Mayfair, London. It has stores in New York City, Tokyo, Singapore, Paris, Beijing and Los Angeles. Dover Street Market was created by Rei Kawakubo of Japanese ...

, Ikram and

Barneys New York Barneys New York is an American brand founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman that operated full-line department stores from 1923 until 2020. Authentic Brands Group acquired Barneys' intellectual property in 2019, and has licensed the brand to Saks F ...

. In the following years, Altuzarra collaborated on collections with

J. Crew J.Crew Group, Inc., is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's, and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, lounge-wear, bags, sweaters, denim, dre ...

(2012) and

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

(2014). From 2013 to 2020,

Kering Kering S.A. () is a French multinational holding company specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. It owns the brands Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Creed, Maui Jim, and Alexander McQueen. The timber-tradin ...

held a minority stake in the brand. Since 2017, Altuzarra’s studio has been based in New York's

Woolworth Building The Woolworth Building is a residential building and early skyscraper at 233 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Cass Gilbert, it was the tallest building in the world f ...

. In 2017, Altuzarra announced that it would present its runway show to

Paris Fashion Week Paris Fashion Week (, commonly ) is a series of designer presentations held semi-annually in Paris, France, with spring/summer and autumn/winter events held each year. Dates are determined by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. Pa ...

for the spring 2018 season with plans to show there indefinitely. After showing in Paris for four years, Altuzarra settled back in New York in 2021. In 2019, Altuzarra's design of a women's all gold, full-length evening gown was worn by

Awkwafina Nora Lum (born June 2, 1988), known professionally as Awkwafina (), is an American actress, comedian and rapper. She rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song "My Vag" became popular on YouTube. She then released her debut album, ''Yellow Ra ...

at the 2019

whom he accompanied on the runway and entrance staircase on the evening of the event. In 2022, Altuzarra launched a second line, Altu. In 2024, New York-based investment firm P180 took a minority stake in Altuzarra. Also in 2024, Altuzarra teamed with home furnishings brand Kravet Couture on a collection of home textiles and wall coverings.

Other activities

In 2020, Altuzarra was one of the judges in season 1 of Amazon's '' Making the Cut''.

Personal life

Altuzarra has been married to real estate investor Seth Weissman since 2014. They welcomed their first child, Emma, in 2019.Diana Tsui (4 January 2022)
With His New Line, Joseph Altuzarra Honors His Teen Self
'' T: The New York Times Style Magazine''.

Awards

References

External links

*
Altuzarra Collections: Style.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altuzarra, Joseph 1983 births French fashion designers French people of American descent French people of Chinese descent Living people Swarthmore College alumni French emigrants to the United States