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From Fifth Ward to world famous
A Texas boy from Houston's Fifth Ward grew up to become a man who's called one of the most famous fashion designers in the world.
HOUSTON - A Texas boy from Houston's Fifth Ward grew up to become a man who's called one of the most famous fashion designers in the world.
Victor Costa was born and raised on Liberty Road in Fifth Ward and the fashion designer wants youngsters to know it doesn't matter where you begin. In the end, success can be yours.
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"I'm going to be 90. So, I guess I have another 20 or 30 years to get more done," Costa laughs.
The nearly 90-year-old, super successful clothing designer is still making plans and is forever fond of fashion.
"This is the yellow rose of Texas that I made for my wife, and you take something like this, you've designed all your life, and you're watching Sex and the City, and they're wearing that dress. (I think I saw Charlotte in that dress?) Yes, Charlotte," Costa said smiling.
"I represent a little boy who was on the wrong side of the tracks and I really, if I say so myself, I really did good. I worked very hard. My mother loved fashion. She loved me and life wasn't easy living on Liberty Road. We were poor. We didn't even have hot water. We used to have to warm the water on the stove and I would take baths in a tub in the kitchen," Costa explains.
He says he became interested in fashion design because the paper dolls sold in stores never had fancy dresses like he saw in the movies.
"That's right, and I always said to my father I'm leaving. He said ‘where are you going?’ I'm going to school in New York, and I'm not coming back."
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Costa did attend school in the Big Apple and, "My first experience of living away from home was in Paris, France."
Costa caught the eye of some of fashion's finest, such as Jackie Kennedy's favorite. "Oleg Cassini would give me a stack of swatches like this, smiling, saying make me some sketches. I'd charge $10 a sketch with the silk fabric pinned on it," says Costa.
Soon he had a job designing bridal, then his own company making evening gowns, which were sold in stores such as Saks and Neimans. Costa dressed Joan Crawford and even Oprah Winfrey.
"I was on Oprah...My housekeeper came to me and said you have a call. I said I told you I don't want to talk to anybody. She said ‘you better pick up this phone.’ I picked up the phone and this voice said, 'I just called to say I love you'. (It was Oprah?) Oprah herself," answers Costa.
Costa became famous for being the couture copy cat, hence the name of his book "Copy Cat."
"This was a copy of the $100,000 dress that Lagerfeld made," Costa said while pointing out a beautiful black gown on a rack full of his amazing work.
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He would duplicate designer dresses, and Costa's came with price tags of a few hundred, instead of thousands. In a 1987 Texas Monthly article I came across, it highlights how Costa's creations earned $26 million in retail sales the year prior.
"You wake up one morning, and you're called the best copiest in the world," says Costa, who has this message for youngsters in his hometown. "Don't give up, don't give up" and dare to dream. "If you don't have a dream, how you going to make a dream come true?"