Rene Ruiz: Fashion designer targets Hialeah manufacturing jobs

When Rene Ruiz was a child growing up in Cuba among what he describes as a lot of misery, he escaped reality by going to old movies. Spotting Greta Garbo in “Camille,” outfitted by designer Gilbert Adrian to evoke the romantic era of Paris in the late 1800s, was an epiphany. That may well have been the moment he was drawn to the world of fashion design.

Today, Rene Ruiz Designs is known in Miami as well as internationally for exquisitely crafted gowns. Yet his clothes are not just for petite, wealthy women. Mr. Ruiz and his team create dresses priced from $700 all the way up to $7,000, $8,000 in sizes 0 to 20. His company has a made-to-measure business but also does mass production of its gowns that are sold in department stores all over the world.

Mr. Ruiz attributes his success to having an excellent team, thoroughly understanding all aspects of the business, perseverance and – especially – maintaining the quality and originality of his designs.

His gowns are manufactured in Hialeah, where Mr. Ruiz spends most of his time, overseeing operations. At one time, there were possibly 1,000 manufacturing plants in that part of Miami-Dade County but the jobs have now gone overseas, Mr. Ruiz said. So he is proud that his company is essentially single-handedly bringing manufacturing back.

Miami Today reporter Susan Danseyar interviewed Mr. Ruiz in his newly opened store on the second floor of Village at Merrick Park.

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