Cynthia Rowley Biography
Cynthia Rowley is an American fashion designer based in New York City’s Manhattan neighborhood. Rowley told the Chicago Tribune that Marshall Field’s purchased her first collection while she was still a student at SAIC.
How old is Cynthia Rowley designer? – Age
She is 54 years old as of 29 July 2022. She was born in 1968 in Barrington, Illinois, United States.
Cynthia Rowley Family – Education
She is one of three children born to Ed Rowley, a former science teacher, and his painter wife, Clementine. Rowley made her first dress when she was seven years old. Her grandparents included a painter and the designer of the Pabst Blue Ribbon logo. In 1988, she graduated from Barrington High School and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Rowley was barred from participating in her junior year art show at SAIC due to the use of wings in her design.
Cynthia Rowley Husband
Rowley’s first husband, photographer Tom Sullivan, died of cancer in 1994 at the age of 32. Rowley married sculptor William Keenan Jr. of Brooklyn. Rowley married William “Bill” Powers, an art dealer, writer, and owner of the Half Gallery in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, on September 17, 2005, at photographer Peter Beard’s home.
Does Cynthia Rowley have a Daughter? – Children
Rowley and his second wife Keenan Jr. had a daughter, Kit Keenan, born in 1999. Kit launched her own clothing line, KIT, in 2018. Cynthia and Kit co-created the Ageless podcast in 2019. Kit appeared on The Bachelor in 2021, where she alluded to having a well-known mother.
How much is Cynthia Rowley’s brand Net Worth?
She has an estimated net worth of $100 Million.
Cynthia Rowley Career
Rowley received a SAIC fellowship in her senior year and used the money to relocate from Chicago to New York City. She then began her career with a $3,000 investment from one of her grandmothers. Rowley’s brand has expanded to include women’s wear, handbags, glasses, color cosmetics, fragrance, wetsuits and swimwear, home furnishings, bedding products, and office accessories since she launched her first capsule collection in 1988.
The designer also created the Swell home accessory line, which was based on a book series she co-wrote with friend Ilene Rosenzweig and debuted at Target in 2003. Rowley debuted the Mr. Powers collection in 2011, a limited menswear line named after her husband Bill Powers.
Rowley’s fashions are shown at New York Fashion Week twice a year. Signature Cynthia Rowley stores can be found in New York City, Chicago, Montauk, Palm Beach, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, and Newport Beach, as well as online. The New York Times described Rowley’s designs as “flirty, vibrantly colored dresses and tops in wispy materials” with “a whiff of Claire McCardell’s carefree, simple spirit.”
Rowley received the Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1994. Rowley and her husband Bill Powers received the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Legend of Fashion award in 2012. Rowley was named Designer of the Year at the 37th Annual American Apparel and Footwear Association American Image Awards in 2015.
Rowley has appeared as a judge on the reality television shows 24 Hour Catwalk, America’s Next Top Model, Project Runway, and Design Star, among others, and has been a guest on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Gossip Girl, Celebrity Jeopardy, and The Late Show with David Letterman.