Nono Maldonado was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Aug. 10, 1945. He graduated from Fordham University in 1967, and started his career in fashion at Bloomingdale’s in New York. He left there to become assistant fashion director of Men’s Fashion Association, a promotion agency for men’s wear designers and manufacturers. He was also buyer, designer, and public-relations consultant for several boutiques in New York. He was named fashion editor for Esquire magazine from 1971 to 1975. During that time, he was selected twice to appear in the International List of the World’s Best Dressed Men, directed by publicist Eleanor Lambert.

He returned to Puerto Rico in 1976 and, in 1977, opened his own boutique and started designing for men under his own label. In 1980, he presented his first women’s wear collection. Today, his two Puerto Rico boutiques, in the Condado and Isla Verde areas of metro San Juan, sell his exclusive designs.

Nono Maldonado is vice president of Puerto Rico Fashion Designers Group Inc. and co-founder of San Juan Fashion Week, where he designs two collections a year, Spring-Summer and Holiday-Resort.