Oscar De la Renta

Born in 1932 in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, fashion designer Oscar de la Renta studied at the National School of Art, in Santo Domingo and in 1952, he moved to Madrid in Spain, and studied at the Academia de San Fernando, Madrid. He had first intended to study abstract painting but was more inclined towards fashion drawing.

In 1956, Mrs John Lodge, the wife of the US Ambassador to Spain, saw some of his drawings and commissioned him to make a dress for her daughter Beatrice. This dress consequently appeared on the cover of very well-known LIFE magazine.

Oscar de la Renta then came to the attention of Cristobal Balenciaga, the famous designer, who took him on to work at his atelier in Madrid. In 1961, Oscar de la Renta went to Paris as an assistant to Antonio del Castillo at the house of Lanvin. Two years later, he turned to Elizabeth Arden couture in her ready-to-wear salon in New York. Four years later, De la Renta moved to Jane Derby and it is when she died in 1969 that he took over the firm and gave it his own name: Oscar de la Renta.

He began to develop a reputation for himself as a designer of extravagant, opulent yet very tasteful clothes. De la Renta therefore created a variety of theme collections based on fashions of the belle epoque, abstract art prints, orientally inspired evening clothes and exotic flamenco dresses. In comparison, his day clothes were almost austere : little coats made lavish only by the fur trim. In 1967, his Gypsy collection attracted a great deal of attention. His clothes had become ornate and very witty, such as bejewelled hot pants worn under a silk mini-dress and coats made of bandana-printed denim. In 1969, Djellabahs appeared, with scrolling Moroccan braid enhanced by pearls and gems.

Oscar married Francoise de Langlade, editor-in-chief of French Vogue Magazine in 1967.

By the early seventies, his day clothes had become even more casual. Although some of his soft chiffon evening dresses followed the current silhouette, he kept up his tradition of a close-fitting waist and a deep V-neckline.
 
In 1990, Oscar de la Renta was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award by the CFDA.

From 1993, Oscar de la Renta began designing for the renowned Paris house of Pierre Balmain in addition to his own collections. He was further known as the first American designer able to head a Parisian couture house. He designed for Balmain for nearly a decade, presenting his last collection in the year of 2001.

All his life, Oscar de la Renta has been donating money and lots of his time to the less fortunate in the Dominican Republic. He helped build schools and day-care centres and has been honoured as its best known native son.

In 1997 De la Renta launched his less-expensive line OSCAR designed for the everyday working woman.

In the year 2001, the city of New York decided to honour American fashion designers by placing bronze plaques along 7th Avenue, the famous street of fashion in New York. Oscar de la Renta was one of those who was honoured.

More recently, in 2001, he started dressing the new First Lady, Laura Bush, wife of the US President George W. Bush.
 

Find fashion by Oscar de la Renta @ the following eshops: