Clovis Ruffin

Clovis Ruffin (July 14, 1945 – April 7, 1992) was an American fashion designer specializing in sportswear, active from 1972 to 1992. In 1973, he became the youngest designer to win a Coty Award.

Early life and education Ruffin was named after Clovis, New Mexico, where he was born in 1946. He grew up in Egypt and Europe before returning to the US as a teenager. He studied at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan; Columbia University, and the Sorbonne in Paris. Richard Martin described Ruffin as one of the "paragons" of 1970s and early 1980s Seventh Avenue sportswear style.

By 1973, the year that he won the Coty Award, Ruffin had sold nearly US$5 million of good-quality, affordable wholesale clothing to retailers around the United States. In 1974, Kennedy Fraser noted that Ruffin's designs in their clean modernity and accessibility were equal to the work of Halston, at that time one of the most successful and highly regarded American designers. Ruffin subsequently licensed his work to Boutique Industries and Keyloun. In 1979 he had a brief relationship with the LGBTQ film historian Vito Russo, making a significant impact on Russo's life.