Cynthia Rowley (born 29 July 1958) is an American fashion designer.

A native of Barrington, Illinois (an affluent northwestern suburb of Chicago), she is one of three children born to Ed Rowley, a former science teacher, and his wife, Clementine. She graduated from Barrington High School in Barrington, Illinois (1976) and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1981).

Known for what The New York Times has called "flirty, vibrantly colored dresses and tops in wispy materials" that have "a whiff of the carefree, simple spirit" of Claire McCardell, Rowley launched her business in 1981or 1983with $3,000 in seed money from one of her grandmothers. "Several months later, she held a fashion show in her apartment, inviting every important fashion editor in New York, as well as Andy Warhol and a smattering of movie stars none of whom she knew."

Since then the Cynthia Rowley Collection, incorporated in 1988,has grown to include women's wear, shoes, handbags, eyewear, belts, dishes, legwear, hats, color cosmetics, and fragrance. It is sold in Cynthia Rowley shops in New York, Chicago, East Hampton, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and in the Cynthia Rowley online boutique. Shops in Beijing and Shanghai are opening soon.The collection is also represented in better department and specialty stores both domestically and internationally.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America honored Rowley with a Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent (1994) and a nomination for the Perry Ellis Award for New Menswear Design Talent.

The designer and Ilene Rosenzweig, her best friend and a former reporter for The New York Times, also created a line of home accessories called Swell, which made its debut at Target in 2003.