Randolph Duke
- Costume Designer
RANDOLPH DUKE
Randolph Duke was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. As a young
child, Duke was surrounded by the performing arts, raised by his mother, a
successful dancer and showgirl in Las Vegas and being inspired by his
grandfather, an accomplished concert pianist. Deciding to be a concert
pianist as well, Duke enrolled at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
where he studied classical piano on scholarship. Duke then turned his
attention to Fashion Design and enrolled at The Fashion Institute of Design
& Merchandising in Los Angeles. After a month of studies at FIDM, he
knew he was born to design. With many design houses watching this new
young designer blossom, at graduation, Duke was offered many design
positions. He accepted design position at Anne Cole of California and
officially began his professional career as a fashion designer designing
swimwear.
Duke soon moved to New York and accepted a position as designer for the
respected swimwear line, Gottex. With much success under his belt, Duke
wanted to launch a line of his own and in the late 80s entered Women's
Sportswear. The late 80s, Duke filled many powerful shoes in the New
York fashion world. In 1987, he was named Design Director for Henri
Bendel, and while also serving as the Creative Director for sportswear
manufacturer Kenar. Duke's finely tuned expertise in product image,
marketing, visual merchandising and strategic advertising proved so
successful, Duke began consulting for other nationally recognized retailers,
manufacturers and developers
In 1996, Duke as Creative Director and Designer of HALSTON, achieved
international recognition for his masterful resurrection of the fashion house
and was considered by many to be the most influential and iconic name in
American fashion. His triumph at Halston helped establish Duke as red
carpet royalty with haute couture creations that became media events in
their own right. Movie and television stars began to be remembered as
much for their red carpet clothes as for their roles they played. Duke
always seemed to dress the winners. Angelina Jolie won her Golden Globe
(and later an Oscar) for Girl, Interrupted wearing Duke's breathtaking formfitting
beaded dress with 10,000 crystals; Hilary Swank accepted her first
Best Actress Oscar for Boys Don't Cry wearing Duke's specially created
bronze ball gown; Marcia Gay Harden accepted her Best Supporting
Actress Oscar for Pollack wearing Duke's striking scarlet satin strapless
gown. Other indelible red carpet moments include: Kim Basinger wearing
Duke's stunning white organza strapless gown; Minnie Driver wearing
Duke's iconic red dress; and Geena Davis wearing Duke's shocking
beaded illusion net gown. Other stars whose beauty has been etched in
our memory by Randolph Duke designed creations include: Sharon Stone,
Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion, Halle Berry, Faith Hill,
Mariah Carey, Ashley Judd, Jodie Foster, Jennifer Aniston, Britney Spears,
Debra Messing, Mira Sorvino, Lisa Kudrow, Laura Linney, Rebecca
Romijn, Rachel Bilson, Mary J. Blige and the incomparable legend, Barbra
Streisand. Over the years, Duke while winning the hearts and loyalty of
every red carpet beauty, also has scored magazine cover after cover with
his haute couture., and ready to wear collections.
-more-
Always interested in seeing his designs reach a mass audience, in 2001
Duke began to build a hugely successful business on the HOME
SHOPPING NETWORK. Duke's HSN line, known as THE LOOK, and
SPIRITED includes shoes, accessories and sportswear for women.
Duke moved to Los Angeles from New York in 2002. On both coasts, he
has secured a place as a celebrated style maker and fashion expert,
appearing on numerous television shows as a fashion commentator to
OPRAH, ABC, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, GOOD MORNING
AMERICA, E!, EXTRA, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD, THE VIEW, LARRY
KING LIVE,and others. Duke's first book, The Look by Randolph Duke, a
sympathetic guide designed to help women of all shapes and sizes find
and celebrate their own style launched in 2006 with publishing house,
Random House, and can be found in finer bookstores nationwide.
In the Fall of 2007, Randolph Duke in support of his new home city opened
Los Angeles Fashion Week with an haute couture presentation of 73 looks.
Los Angeles had never seen such a show on the west coast. It brought
fashion critics to their feet in applause.
With the design of his infamous home dubbed 'OPENHOUSE' in Los
Angeles, Duke most entered the design world of interiors and architecture.
He won the AIA Design Award for 2007 and his home was featured on the
cover of the December 2007 Issue of ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST. Duke
continues his passion in the world of interior design and architecture with
his Costa Rica property located in Nosara, on the Guanacaste peninsula,
dubbed Eclipso. Duke has just finished this Eco-Resort and it will debut for
travelers looking for special Eco- friendly getaways with uniquely stylish
and reimagined resort amenities ......all with the Duke imprimatur
and commitment to developing designs that were realized as green and
sustainable, all natural products and home furnishings.
Today Duke, ever conscious of global trends and eco conscious design, is
developing his new sun safe collection Randolph Duke SPF, dedicated to
creating a fashionable collection of apparel using new SPF 50 fabrics, and
a uniquely evolved organic cotton Duke discovered in Peru while with his
design team doing research and development. Duke's charitable efforts
have become a mainstay of his business model, collaborating with The
Crohn's Colitis Foundation, The Children's Burn Foundation, Women Who
Care, and most recently with The Melanoma Foundation as well as
Bloomingdales and the Share Our Strength charity where Dike launched a
pop up boutique collection of diffusion price point cocktail and special
occasion dresses. And recently Duke was hired by NYDJ ( Not Your
Daughters Jeans) as creative director/executive design director
consultant to expand their flourishing business in to the world of tops,
shirts, blouses, jackets, sweaters, tunics, shawls, ponchos, wraps and
accessories.
Duke resides in Los Angeles, and Costa Rica ......