The South End's Ann Romney Connection

One South End designer has been thrust into the spotlight this year for providing fashion options to a potential first lady. 

Fashion designer Alfred Fiandaca, who has a South End location on Albany Street, has dressed Ann Romney - candidate Mitt Romney's wife - for years, but has recently provided her with a couple high-profile outfits that have shoved him into the spotlight once again. 

“She’s a dream — very easy to work with and no pretension,” he said told the Boston Herald. 

This isn't the first time the Boston-based designer has had run-ins with political figures. He's also dressed first ladies Nancy Reagan and Lady Bird Johnson. 

Fiandaca, who turned 72 this year, got his start in Boston by working side-by-side with his father, who owned a clothing store in East Boston. At the age of 17, he moved to New York City to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology. He later returned to Boston, opening a shop on Maverick Street in East Boston in the 1960s, then a store on Newbury Street before moving to the South End location. In addition to political celebrties, Fiandaca's also dressed Hollywood icons like Audrey Hepburn, Julie Andrews and Louise Fletcher. 

Fiandaca's designs recently worn by Ann Romney have included a red taffeta shirt dress on “Good Morning America," a cream suit from a 2006 collection at the previous presidential debate, and a black leather number on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

“What you’ve seen so far are things that are classic,” he told the Boston Herald. “The only time she was on the edge was the cut leather suit on ‘Leno.’”

What do you think of the Romney/South End Connection? Are you liking her recent style choices? Tell us in the comments.