Manuel Cuevas

Cuevas's new design space (located at 1922 Broadway) was as equally historical as his designs.

An old Victorian house near Nashville's Music Row was four stories; three were designated for work space with the main floor designated as a showroom and retail space.

While in Nashville, with encouragement from the public, Cuevas became interested in designing for the every-day client.

Manuel Arturo José Cuevas Martínez Sr. (born April 23, 1933 in Coalcomán Michoacán) is a Mexican fashion designer best known for the garments he created for prominent rock and roll and country music acts.

Manuel Arturo José Cuevas Martínez was born on April 23, 1933, in Coalcomán de Vázquez Pallares in Mexico as the fifth of twelve children of Esperanza Martínez (1911) and José Guadalupe Cuevas (1901).

He attended the University of Guadalajara and majored in psychology.

Cuevas first learned how to sew in 1945 from his older brother, Adolfo, in Coalcoman, Michoacan, Mexico.

He stated, "I started making prom dresses when I was 13. You know that grandmothers and aunts made the prom dresses for all the kids. But I started making prom dresses that were pretty expensive, and all the girls said, 'Mommy I don't want you to make my prom dress. I want Manuel to make my prom dress!' I continued making prom dresses and in one year I made 77 dresses, then the next year I made 110, and from then on I hired people to help me sew. I made a fortune."

After success in making prom dresses in Mexico, Cuevas moved to Los Angeles in 1951 and worked for several tailors.

He was soon referred to and started working for Sy Devore, tailor to The Rat Pack.

Cuevas was offered $55 a fitting, which would often only take 15 minutes.

Soon he was tailoring suits for elite members of the Los Angeles community including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Bob Hope, Don Rickles, and Joey Bishop.

Not long after starting to work with Sy Devore, Cuevas attended the Pasadena Tournament of the Roses (commonly known as the Rose Parade).

He was inspired by the elaborate and flamboyant clothing.

Upon learning that the pieces were designed by Nathan Turk, Cuevas visited the designer to ask him who was responsible for the embroidery on his clothing.

The embroidery was created by master tailor Viola Grae.

While still working as the fitter at Sy Devore's, Cuevas bartered his sewing expertise with Grae, saying he would cut the shirts and pants for her in return for teaching him the craft of embroidery.

It was through Grae that Cuevas met Nudie Cohn, famous for his grand, rhinestone-embellished "Nudie Suits."

At first, Cuevas made shirts for Cohn.

Actor Audie Murphy came into Nudie's Rodeo Tailors one day about the fit of some the suits that were being made for his latest film, concerned whether they would be done in time for filming Monday.

Cuevas worked all weekend tailoring the suits, and Monday morning delivered all the outfits to Murphy.

Cohn then offered Cuevas a full-time job.

Working alongside Cohn, Cuevas later became head tailor, head designer, and eventually partner of Nudie's Rodeo Tailors in North Hollywood.

Clients knew Cuevas as the quiet tailor in the back at Nudie's who also did all of the fittings.

Cuevas designed and created many of the suits that Nudie's Rodeo Tailors became famous for in the late '50s, '60s, and early '70s.

Though Cohn encouraged Cuevas to make repeat "copies" of designs that sold well, Cuevas refused.

It was at Nudie's Rodeo Tailors that Cuevas became known for his one-of-a-kind designs, making each piece unique.

In September 1965, Cuevas married Nudie's only daughter, Barbara L. Cohn.

They had one daughter, Morelia (born in 1968).

In 1975, after Manuel and Barbara were divorced, Cuevas opened his own shop, Manuel Couture, just down the street from Nudie's Rodeo Tailors in North Hollywood.

Many of the friends and clients that Cuevas made while working with Nudie, including Johnny Cash, Marty Stuart, and George Jones, supported Cuevas and his new shop.

From 1975 till 1988, Manuel Couture became a go-to designer and image maker for up-and-coming musicians in Los Angeles.

"His customers seem to place a near-blind faith in Manuel putting their professional images in his hands, believing that what he whips up for them will be right. 'That's partly why I have survived as a designer all these years. People put their trust in me to create something truly unique,' he says."

Throughout his North Hollywood career, Cuevas worked with famed costumer Edith Head and made costumes for over 90 movies and 13 television shows, including the jeans James Dean wore in the movie Giant, and the Lone Ranger's famous mask.

After nearly 40 years in Los Angeles, Cuevas moved his business and family (second wife Susan, and three children Morelia, Manny Jr., and Jesse-Justin) to Nashville, Tennessee.

"I wanted to see the kids grow healthy and safe, and L.A. started to get a little too tight for me, and too complicated. I am thankful for my time there though because that was the place where I made my career flourish."

In 1989, with the popularity of the California Jacket worn by long-time friend and client Dwight Yoakam, Cuevas offered a limited-edition, similar version of the Hillbilly Deluxe jacket in his Nashville showroom.

After moving to Nashville, in the late 1990s, Cuevas began creating his 50 State Jacket Collection as his gift back to the United States.

He researched details from each of the fifty states to create the one-of-a-kind collection.

The collection debuted in 2005 at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville.