Biographie
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 ......
