Hector Escobosa (1907-1963) was a retail executive and fashion authority who spent eleven years at Seattle department store Frederick & Nelson. He was the son of Mexican immigrants and grew up in Nogales, Arizona. After gaining retail experience in San Francisco and Kansas City, he joined Frederick & Nelson in 1939. He brought high fashion expertise and experience with European markets. Under his leadership Frederick & Nelson became one of Seattle’s leading sellers of American and European designer clothing.

While in Seattle, Escobosa finished his bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington, wrote a book called The Seattle Story, was president of the Seattle Symphony, and served as an officer of the Seattle Art Museum and the Seattle Chamber of Congress. In 1951 he left Seattle to become president of I. Magnin, a high-end fashion retailer headquartered in San Francisco. He died in November of 1963, just ten days after a dinner in New York where he was honored by members of the American fashion industry.

Caption information source: "Private rites for Hector Escobosa," Seattle Times, November 24, 1963, p. 20.