The dressmaker Irma Peñalver, who worked with Celia Cruz for more than five decades, died at the age of 92 in the city of Los Angeles, United States, the executor of the Guarachera de Cuba, Omer Pardillo, announced.
“A simple and kind woman. She seamstress of hundreds of Celia Cruz suits, the most notable being the Cuban flag suit that is currently on display at the Smithsonian. For all of us who knew her, she means a huge loss. QEPD, my deepest condolences to her daughter Mercedes Olivera, “Pardillo wrote on his social networks.
The dressmaker, who has lived in the United States for more than five decades, placed herself in the history of Cuban culture after beginning her creative relationship with Celia, which over time became a solid bond of friendship.
Peñalver met the famous Cuban singer in the 1950s in Cuba, when she was working for a well-known fashion house run by designer Pepe Fernández.
After settling in the United States, she designed for actresses Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland, earning her a name in the fashion world.
He resumed contact with the interpreter of “Azúcar” based on a recommendation from a mutual friend. About that moment, the dressmaker gave details in an interview with the researcher and collaborator of OnCubaRosa Marquetti:
“When I came to the United States, I lost contact with her. She only had news of him through a mutual friend who lived in Spain: the singer Gilda Cánovas, wife of Rolando Columbié, former pianist of the Benny Moré Giant Band. I continued to live in Los Angeles and in 1987 it was announced that Celia would come to my city to unveil her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is the first Cuban to receive such recognition and she wanted to give her something of hers, but at the same time she told me: ‘What could I give her that she didn’t have?’ I spoke with Gilda and she tells me: “’My sister, you can give her something that she doesn’t have: a dress made by you!’”, she said.
Peñalver then recalled that “I entrust Gilda to take her measurements on the trip that Celia would make earlier to Madrid. One day they call me on the phone. It turns out that I had a friend who was also called Celia and was Cuban, and when I pick up they tell me: “Irma, how are you, I’m Celia” (Celia Cruz was a very natural person, and she spoke to me as if we had spoken the day before, but I don’t recognize her). I ask him: “And René —referring to my friend Celia’s husband— how is she?” And he answers me: “Irma, I’m Celia Cruz. Gilda told me that you wanted to make me a dress and for that, I’m fitter than a sock. When I go to Los Angeles, I’ll call you a few days before and see you.”
The dressmaker stressed that this was the beginning of friendship “that was strengthened forever.”
“I tried one toilet, I caught her flaws and that’s where I started making dresses for her. First I made him two, which were my gift. She loved them, so much so that the manager at my job at the time told me: “Are you the one who made Celia’s dresses, the one she wore last night and this one?” She kissed my hands. And he tells me that he hadn’t seen Celia wear clothes like that for years.”
Regarding the famous dress she created for Celia with the Cuban flag, she indicated: “Celia wanted me to make her a rumba gown with the Cuban flag. She was her idea. I did it for her with red and blue ruffles. And she asked me to put her tail on with velcro, so she could take it off and put it on whenever she wanted. But it is not known how, that part, the tail, was lost. It is the Cuban robe that is in the Smithsonian with my signature as its creator.
