Roberto de Villacis

Roberto de Villacis (born March 10, 1967, as Robert O. Henrichsen de Villacis) is an Ecuadorian American fashion designer and artist, best known as for his Trash Couture clothing brand and art collective, United Aliens.

Early life De Villacis was born in Quito, Ecuador to American Civil Engineer Robert Henrichsen and Ecuadorian socialite and humanitarian Olga Ortiz de Villacis. He spent his early years between Ecuador, New York City, Florida and the Caribbean. When Roberto was seven, the family relocated to their beach house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida after the death of his father while working on an oil project in Trinidad and Tobago During his senior year at the Pinecrest Prep School, he won a scholarship for the Pratt Institute. After attending Pratt's foundation year, de Villacis transferred from Pratt to study fashion design at Studio Berçot in Paris where he was mentored by Madame Marie Rucki. After graduating in 1991, he remained in Paris where he created his first collection.

Early career His first collection was featured in Spanish Vogue, styled by Lisa Lovatt-Smith and Flavia Lafer, photographed by Karl Lagerfeld. signature label. In 1996 Roberto joined Missoni's creative team He stayed with Missoni until 2000. He then consulted as an Art Director for Lancôme, creating the slogan "Believe in Beauty" and the "Poetry of Science" for Kerastase L’Oreal. In 2002 he founded Trash-Couture

His designs have been photographed by Helmut Newton, Ellen Von Unwerth, Steven Meisel and featured in Vanity Fair, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, W, and Elle. Mega-stars including Penélope Cruz and Kirsten Dunst to super-models Kate Moss and Verushka showcased his original designs from red carpet premieres, press photos to charity events.