"When Rosado was asked what his first job was at Armani, he said "Sales. It was the first time Emporio Armani launched in America. It was meant to be like a younger brand of Giorgio Armani, so I was kind of that person for them. Actually, I worked with Elizabeth Saltzman — Elizabeth and I worked together at Parachute and then from there, we went to go work at Armani. And Elizabeth was the coolest chick in town... We went to Area like six nights a week. We were partying like maniacs. And then we would go to Armani and try to be all buttoned-up and professional. But it was complete chaos, always. We had such a good time.
"From there, Gabriella gave me more of an opportunity to do visuals and windows. That was my next step at Armani, doing visual merchandising and display. Once I did that, I met Andy Warhol and my life changed, again."
When asked about his time at NYU, prior to working with Andy Warhol, as well as his stint at the fashion department at Interview, Rosado said, "I was a pre-med student — a biology major. I was always a very torn person. I had the traditional Latino upbringing, with the very traditional path, and that was really important to me. I really wanted to be a doctor. My father was an artist and when we were very young, as far back as I can remember, we were always in SoHo, when it was artist lofts and warehouses, and in Washington Square Park. As a kid, I told my parents, 'I want to go to NYU.' That was my goal. I got into NYU and other colleges as well, but my heart was NYU.
"Anyway, I never completed school. I did two years, but I never graduated. While I was at school, I still had a passion for fashion. I loved being in the city and in SoHo. There was a really cool shop at the time called Parachute, and this is where it really all began for me, in terms of understanding my love for fashion. It was the coolest store in New York. I used to go in there when I was in school because I just loved all the salespeople — they were like gorgeous models, and I was in awe of everything. And I finally mustered the courage to ask for a job, they gave me the application and I ended up getting it. It really was like the creative center of downtown fashion at that time. Oribe was coming to do hair, Mario Testino would shoot the campaign, Jean-Paul Goude was always in the store. It was that circle of people that I got to become very familiar with while working at Parachute.
"I was still at NYU, working weekends at Parachute, and one day, in walks the president of Giorgio Armani, which was Gabriella Forte at the time. Armani was opening his first shop in New York, and they recruited me to come work there. I decided, 'I'll work the summer at Armani, and then I'll go to school in September.' Well, that was a mess, because I never went back. One thing led to another, and I really learned what fashion as a business meant. I got to see the business side and the creative side of Armani, and I just really loved what I was doing. I decided to take what I thought would be a semester off from school to really immerse myself in that. One thing led to another, and my career just kind of unfolded that way."
Information originally sourced from Fashionista.
