Erté, born Romain de Tirtoff in Russia in 1892, was a renowned designer and artist known for his contributions to the Art Deco movement. He rejected a military career, moved to Paris in 1912, and adopted the pseudonym Erté, which comes from the French pronunciation of his initials ("R.T."). He found fame designing costumes, stage sets, and over 240 cover illustrations for Harper's Bazaar, and later worked with Hollywood, with his career spanning into the 1990s.