Born in Cuba, Robert immigrated to New York City at age six. He attended Hunter College, majoring in journalism studies. Having developed a great interest in the arts and fashion, he began work as an editorial assistant at WWD, then and still the “Bible” of the fashion world. His duties enabled him to work with many legendary fashion editors, reporting then current runway trends, and about the international roster of important designers responsible for them. It was then that he first worked on the production of a photo shoot, not only for the newspaper, but for its’ glossy offshoot, “W” magazine.
Robert realized that he had developed an interest in doing hair and make-up. Since high school, he had always created special looks on his friends before setting out for a night of fun. It was while working on his first photo shoots that he realized the need for free-lance hair and make-up artists, and so he studied and became a licensed cosmetician. Friends Steven Meisel, the noted photographer, designer Anna Sui, and Andre Leon Talley encouraged him to build a strong portfolio, which, after an initial round of go-sees, secured his first editorial assignments for Glamour, Mademoiselle, YM and Cosmopolitan. After a year, advertising and catalog work followed.
After a few years of editorial and commercial free-lance work, he became the New York Fashion Editor of Tearsheet Magazine, a short-lived trade publication that featured fashion news, celebrity profiles, industry gossip and fashion and beauty photo spreads. Thereafter, Robert worked for several years as Contributing Beauty Editor for Beauty Handbook, a retail trade publication that reported current trends in beauty and lifestyle. At both publications and for his personal portfolio, Robert was responsible for booking photographers, hair stylists and/or make-up artists, models, fashion stylists and locations. He was directly responsible for the editorial direction and original concept of the fashion and beauty shoots.
Robert is equally competent as both a hairdresser and make-up artist. Throughout his career, he’s helped to create fashion forward looks for many different projects and clients.
In his editorial work, Robert was hired as Key Make-up artist for TV and radio personality Mother Love on the UPN daytime show Forgive and Forget. Since taping the program kept him in New York, he and a partner created Bridal Beauty Service, an agency that supplied hair and make-up artists to brides and their bridal parties. With more than twenty bridal covers and inside editorials in publications like Conde Nast’s Brides, Modern Bride, Bridal Guide, as well as advertising work for well-established bridal designers, he became a popular stylist for the weddings of many socially prominent New Yorkers.
Robert also collaborated on several beauty books, his latest contribution being celebrity model Iman’s book “The Beauty of Color: The Ultimate Beauty Guide for Skin of Color”. He’s also worked as creative consultant on seasonal make-up looks for Cover Girl and the launching of a color line of facial cosmetics for Kiss Products.
