A tribute to Oscar de la Renta
The American designer passed away last night at the age of 82. Born in the Dominican Republic, he was unanimously considered in the fashion industry as one of the greatest couturiers in the world.
1/17The American designer passed away last night at the age of 82. Born in the Dominican Republic, he was unanimously considered in the fashion industry as one of the greatest couturiers in the world.He was the most Hollywood of fashion designers, with a client list including some of the most famous women in the world from Jackie Kennedy to Amal Alamuddin Clooney, for whom he created a wedding dress just last month. With the princely manner that earned him the title Sultan of Suave and a mentor, in the form of Cristobal Balenciaga, who figures in the pantheon of fashion: Oscar de la Renta ticked all the boxes, during a star-studded career that most designers can only dream of.Born into an affluent family in the Dominican Republic in 1932, he left for the Old World at 18 years old, to study painting in Spain. He fell in love with fashion in Madrid, the kind of high-color fashion that he would go on to make his signature. In the early 1960s, he made his name at Elizabeth Arden couture, with the support of Diana Vreeland, before moving on to set up his own label, where he defined a luxury ready-to-wear look steeped in romanticism, that ran the gamut from evening gowns to cocktail dresses and daywear. He dressed most of the US First Ladies - Nancy Reagan, Hilary Clinton, Laura Bush and more recently Michelle Obama all featured on his White House client list, alongside a galaxy of stars of stage and screen from every era of the past 50 years, from A-listers on the red carpet to emerging young talents."No-one on earth can make women feel as beautiful as Oscar de la Renta can," declared Karlie Kloss backstage at the designer's Spring/Summer 2015 ready-to-wear show in New York, what would be his final collection, emblematic of the designer's look; feminine, floral and colorful.At Pierre Balmain from 1993 to 2002, Oscar de la Renta was also the first American to work for a Paris fashion house. His first wide, Françoise de Langlade, was French, who worked for Vogue Paris for several year, notably as editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, before leaving for the United States to marry the love of her life.
2/171967, un mannequin portant une de ses premières robes lors d'un shooting au Castello San'Nicola à Palerme, Italie. Archives Condé Nast.
3/17Oscar de la Renta dans son atelier
4/17Jerry Hall en boy-scout pour le défilé Oscar de la Renta en 1980. Photo: Getty
5/17Le défilé Oscar de la Renta printemps-été 1982. Photo: Getty
6/17Audrey Hepburn et Oscar de la Renta en janvier 1989. Photo: Getty
7/17John Galliano, Anna Wintour et Oscar de la Renta au Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo: Getty
8/17Oscar de la Renta lors du défilé Pierre Balmain printemps-été 1993 à New York. Photo: Getty
