Fashion's Roots

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. steps into the world of fashion and meets three icons of style — Diane Von Furstenberg, Narciso Rodriguez, and RuPaul Charles — introducing ancestors who were just as audacious as they are.

Narciso Rodriguez received his big break when designing a wedding dress for his dear friend Caroline Bessette who was soon to marry John F. Kennedy Jr. Little did Narciso know that request would change his life.

Narciso Rodriquez's parents settle in Newark, New Jersey, after coming to America from Cuba, speaking no English and desperate to work.

Henry Lewis Gates Jr. reveals RuPaul Charles' surprise celebrity cousin.

RuPaul discovers his great-grandparents' marriage record from 1870. He then connects the experience to similar oppressions he and his distant ancestors faced when marrying the person they loved.

Diane von Furstenberg recalls the powerful story of how her mother's life was saved at Auschwitz and how she thinks about this lesson every day.

As the inheritor of her ancestor's experiences, Diane von Furstenberg shares an aspect of herself that may have resulted from all that her family endured.