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Roberto de Villacis (born Robert O. Henrichsen de Villacis; born March 10, 1967) is a Latin American fashion desinger and artist currently located in Los Angeles, California.



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Biography
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Early Life
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De Villacis was born March 10, 1967 in Quito, Ecuador to American engineer Roberto Henrichsen and Ecuadorian socialite Olga Ortiz de Villacis. He spent his early years between Ecuador, New York and Florida. At the age of seven, his father died while working on an oil project in Trinidad and Tobego and the family relocated to their beach house in Fort Lauterdale. In Fort Lauterdale, he enrolled in the prep school Pine Crest and left for New York City upon graduation. He attended Pratt Art Institute where he won a national talent compeititon.

De Villacis dropped out of Pratt Art Institute and moved to Paris, France to study fashion design at the prestigious fashion school Studio Berçot. In 1989 he graduated with honors. While in Paris he frequented the celebrity hangout, Les Bains Douches. He would later draw upon the high fashion glamour for inspiration in his designs.

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Early Career
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In 1990, de Villacis was discovered by the legendary fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld, who photographed de Villacis’ first collection for Vogue. De Villacis was introduced to Stuart Kriesler, founder and partner of Ralph Lauren, through a mutual friend. Kriesler presented de Villacis’ collection to Saks Fifth Avenue who purchased his collection.

At 21, de Villacis decided to take a break from design and started focusing on art. He began working on light sculptures, which are now part of the permanent collection at the Louvre in Paris, France. A few years later, de Villacis was recruited by Alberta Ferreti and Versace to design ready to wear, but turned them down to design a Haute Couture collection for Italian Princess Luisa Beccari.

In 1995, de Villacis worked as designer and creative director for the launch of Anna Molinari’s signature label. In 1996 de Villacis joined Missoni’s creative team for the re-launch of their mens collection, and stayed with Missoni until 2000. By 2000, de Villacis became an art director for Lancome and The Poetry of Science for L’Oreal. In 2007 he co-owned and designed Trash-Couture/Future Vintage London/Paris.

In 1997 de Villacis started United Aliens Artists, a group of independent artists and designers of creative luxury concepts, products and propaganda for the future of mass consumption. '''

Media
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In 2007 American Idol and Grammy award winner, Carrie Underwood selected De Villacis to create the dress for the album cover Carnival which went to become number one in America. His collaboration extended to designing the red carpet dress, a dis-ntegrated ballgown top worn with jeans for the Pop idol show and an evening dress for the music video of the Disney film Enchanted.

His designs have been photographed by the legendary Helmut Newton, Ellen Von Unwerth, Steven Meisel and featured in Vanity Fair, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, W, and Elle. Mega-stars including Penelope Cruz and Kirsten Dunst to super-models Kate Moss and Verushka showcased his original designs from red carpet premieres, press photos to charity events.