Ricky Lizalde is the twelfth of fourteen children and was born and raised in Escondido, California. His Mexican parents, Eloisa and Raul, have been and continue to be his inspiration and he credits much of his success to them. At an early age, Ricky watched his mother sew and became fascinated with what she could create from a flat piece of fabric. His father worked extremely hard to support his large family and it is from him that he gains a strong work ethic. Without such strong mentors as a child, Ricky would have never been able to develop the talent for design that he exhibits today.

Although he began to create clothes at age nine, Ricky’s formal training didn’t begin until he studied dance and costume design at California State University Long Beach. Dissatisfied with the opportunities available to him in California, he moved to New York City to become a dancer. While dancing, he began designing costumes for various companies such as the Washington Ballet, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Inland Pacific Ballet and the company he was dancing with, Complexions. This work prepared him for his career as a women’s lingerie designer, where he started as an assistant designer for the Valentino label. He fine-tuned his skills while designing under the Oscar De La Renta lingerie lines. Because of his proven success, he was approached to head the launch of the Vera Wang lingerie line.

Ricky felt that his natural progression, after years of working under the constraints of other labels, was to produce his own label. He launched Lizalde in 2004, and has already been showcased in several trade publications. The Lizalde garment line is currently being sold at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom’s and lingerie specialty boutiques throughout the country. Due to his success, Ricky went on to be a favorite designer on the Fourth Season of Bravo TV’s “Project Runway.” He is well known for his emotional moments as “the crier”. Even after winning the Levi’s Challenge (his winning design was produced and sold out in less than one hour), Ricky found a way to make a triumphant moment an emotional one.

Today Ricky lives in Queens, NY with Mark, his partner of 12 years, and his dog, Shortie. He is currently trying to keep up with the success that his collection has received due to the wide exposure of Project Runway. He continues to make and wear his signature hats and is also working on a number of projects which will bring his hats and other fashion somewhere near you.