There’s a special power between the collaboration of designer Narciso Rodriguez and salsa maven Celia Cruz.

You may consider this an overstatement, but it’s not. Every Latin household knows Celia Cruz. Between her birth in Havana, Cuba in 1925 to her passing in New Jersey in 2003, Cruz had released more than 40 albums, established herself as the Queen of Salsa, and reigned over the Latin genre for nearly half a century.

Cruz was also a Black woman, taking up space with her unforgettable voice in a time where salsa was still a very male-dominated space and hardly indicative of the genre’s Afro roots.

And so, it was only fitting for Cruz to decide to work with Narciso Rodriguez, a first-generation Cuban American (and a huge admirer) for her Best Salsa Album nomination for the 45th Annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden in 2003.

It was a huge win for the Latinx community when she took home the award for her iconic classic “La Negra Tiene Tumbao,” but also bittersweet as, unbeknownst to us all, it would be one of her last public appearances, wearing a Narciso original.

“I will forever treasure this photograph and the moment it captured,” Rodriguez recalled. “It was an exciting day in my career when I first welcomed Celia Cruz to my atelier to dress her. I later learned that Celia was equally excited and nervous, but it was the beginning of a great friendship and lasting collaboration. I still have vivid childhood recollections of Celia on stage and being particularly mesmerized by her glittering silver platform shoes. She had a style that was all her own and it was an honor to dress her.”

This photograph was taken by Alexis Rodriguez-Duarte and Tico Torres and it became part of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection in 2005.

Cruz was a style icon in her own right and will always be remembered. Her contributions to Latin music and famous rallying cry “¡Azúcar!”—meaning sugar—will continue to ring for eternity, and so will her style.

Editor’s Note: As part of a new editorial series, we look to moments that define American Fashion and highlight the cultural impact and contributions our country’s creatives have made on a global scale.