For more than sixty years, master tailor Manuel Cuevas has been designing one-of-a-kind clothing to reflect the inner personality of the wearer. Born Manuel Arturo José Cuevas Martínez in Coalcoman, Michoacan, Mexico, in 1933, his passion for fashion found expression at a very young age.

Cuevas headed to Los Angeles, where Hollywood tailor Sy Devore hired him to conduct fittings for celebrities such as Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra. He did freelance design work for Nathan Turk and learned how to embroider from Viola Grae before going to work for Nudie Cohn. As the head designer at Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, Manuel created iconic looks for Johnny Cash, Gram Parsons, Porter Wagoner, Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and many others.

When Manuel opened his own shop in North Hollywood in 1975, Manuel’s creativity flourished in the 1980s, as he reinterpreted classic Nudie and Turk styles for younger, tradition-minded performers. Inspired by Mexican patterns and palettes and Native American motifs and weaving, his designs highlighted the indigenous roots of cowboy imagery in Western wear. Manuel relocated his business to Nashville in 1988, where, in the finest rodeo-tailoring tradition, the charismatic designer continues to fashion unique works of wearable art.