The twelfth of 14 children, 35-year-old Ricky Lizalde hails from Escondido, California, where he studied dance and costume design at California State University in Long Beach. Highly influenced by his Mexican parents, he learned how to sew from his mother, and later developed a passion for design. Upon graduating from college, he moved to New York City to become a dancer, subsequently making costumes for his dance company. He later became an assistant designer for the Valentino label and honed his skills with the Oscar de la Renta lingerie line before launching the Vera Wang lingerie line. In 2004, Lizalde launched his own line named after himself, which was showcased in several publications.
Inspired by Prada, Ricky Lizalde is one of 15 hopefuls on Bravo’s reality competition, Project Runway, where he appears on its fourth season.
(Photo courtesy of Bravo)