Who is Cynthia Rowley? Meet 'The Bachelor' star Kit Keenan's mother who set up a million-dollar empire on her own
A lot was expected from Kit Keenan when she pulled up to 'The Bachelor' mansion in her own Bentley while the rest of the girls huddled up next to each other in a shared limo. The season led by Matt James is a couple of episodes down already and it was only during the previous week's episode that she finally had the privilege of a personal audience with the franchise's first Black Bachelor. Kit entered with a bang but to say that she made swift moves that could warrant her place as his top pick would be incorrect. She surely has not done anything significant on the show in establishing herself as the frontrunner of the season but her outfits definitely have made an impact and to say that she is one of the best-dressed contestants in this season is an understatement.
This fashion-forward young adult (she's just 21) whose dresses are to kill for has imbibed the ability to make a statement with what she wears from her mother Cynthia Rowley who is well-known in the fashion industry. A celebrity in her own rights, Cynthia Rowley has named her brand after herself and has built it on the philosophy that "fashion should be an adventure."
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At what age did Cynthia Rowley start her career?
A Cosmopolitan article states that Cynthia was raised by her parents Ed and Clementine Rowley in an environment of art and that she picked up her love for creating beautiful dresses that she does now from her mother's side of the family. “My mom’s whole side of the family were painters. My grandmother did a lot of self-portraits,” Cynthia told the New York Times. “She always wore Chinese dresses like that, even though she was 100 percent Italian. It was a very eccentric upbringing, with theme rooms and stuff," she said.
Cynthia made her first piece of clothing, a dress, at the age of 7.
Cynthia Rowley's education
Cynthia graduated from Barrington High School and later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1981. But did you know that her first show didn't quite go as per plan and she was shown the door? She clashed with the faculty over the use of exuberant wings that she attached to her designs and that is what led to her ouster. "I actually got booted out of my junior show — not that I'm still holding a grudge or anything," she told the Chicago Tribune.
She did not let that one incident be the make or break of her budding career and in her senior year, she worked her way to win the school's fellowship award. She was supposed to fly to Italy with the money for an internship, however, she used that money to hire a U-Haul and moved to New York with her collection and the rest is history.
SAIC invited her back, in 2012, along with her husband Bill Powers, owner of Half Gallery to accept the SAIC's first dual Legend of Fashion honor at Millenium Park during that year's student fashion show and fundraiser.
Cynthia Rowley sold her first collection to a buyer for Marshall Field's
"I was on a train on my way to school, and a woman asked me about the jacket I was wearing. I explained that I'm a designer, and she gave me her business card and told me to be in her office on Monday morning with my collection," Cynthia told the outlet about her chance meeting with a buyer while she was on a train.
"And so I sewed all weekend and went to her office Monday with my five pieces. She looked at them, and said, 'That one's cute. What's the style number on that?' I said, 'Um, 1.' And she said, 'That's nice. What's the style number on that one?' 'Uh, 2.' She said, 'Let me guess — 3, 4, and 5?' She wrote me an order, and at that point, I realized there was no looking back," she added.
Cynthia Rowley's first tryst with failure
In 1983, Cynthia designed a collection with just a thousand dollars and after completing all pieces, she invited the top fashion editors and influencers in New York City but no one attended her showing that she had staged at her walkup apartment, according to Inc.com. “I was just so naïve that I [thought], ‘Of course they’ll all want to come!’ Coming to New York was a double slap in the face. It was jarring, shocking and hard — but in a good way," she told Chicago Splash.
Cynthia Rowley's first tryst with success
For almost a decade after her first flop, Cynthia kept toiling to perfect her craft and created a collection so iconic that the Council of Fashion Designers of America honored her with a Perry Ellis Award fro New Fashion Talent. This was in January 1995 and in June of that year, she opened up the doors of her second boutique.
Cynthia Rowley's Net Worth
Cynthia Rowley began with selling just women's clothing but later on expanded her collection that now includes accessories, shoes, cosmetics, perfume, handbags, and eyewear. Her stores have a global presence in countries including Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. She's also published a number of books including, 'The Swell Dressed Party', 'Home Swell Home: Designing Your Dream Pad', and 'Swell: A Girl's Guide to the Good Life'. Cynthia Rowley was also offered to create an exclusive line called 'The Whim', a collection of summer entertaining products featuring a range of items including beach towels, dinnerware, and picnic baskets in bold colors.
All this has added to Cynthia Rowley's impressive net worth that is estimated at $100 Million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.