Oscar de la Renta (born July 22, 1932) is one of the world's leading
fashion designers.
Early years
Oscar de la Renta (born Oscar Aristides Renta Fiallo) was born in
Santo Domingo in
Dominican Republic, to a
Dominican mother and a
Puerto Rican father. At the age of 18 he left the Dominican Republic to study in Spain, where he studied painting at the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. He quickly changed his focus to fashion. While living in Spain, he became interested in the world of design and began sketching for leading Spanish fashion houses, which soon led to an apprenticeship with Spain's most renowned couturier, Cristóbal Balenciaga. Later, de la Renta left Spain to join Antonio Castillo as a couture assistant at Lanvin in Paris.
In 1963, torn between designing custom clothing for
Elizabeth Arden, shoes and accessories and designing ready-to-wear for
Christian Dior-New York, de la Renta turned for advice to Diana Vreeland, the Editor-in-Chief of
Vogue, saying that what he really wanted was to "get into ready to wear, because that's where the money is". Vreeland replied, "Then go to Arden because you will make your reputation faster. She is not a designer, so she will promote you. At the other place, you will always be eclipsed by the name of Dior." De la Renta proceeded to work for Arden for two years before he in 1965 went to work for
Jane Derby and launched his own label. When Derby died in August 1965 Oscar de la Renta took over the Label..
He was one of the three major protégés of
Baron de Gunzburg, the others were Bill Blass and Calvin Klein.
Two of his major competitors are
Carolina Herrera and
Carmen Marc Valvo.
Awards, honors, philanthropic endeavors
De la Renta's talents receive continual international recognition. Among them, he received the
CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year Award in 2000 and in 2007 (tied with Proenza Schouler). In February 1990, he was honored with the
CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award. From 1973 to 1976, and from 1986 to 1988, he served as President of the
CFDA. He is also a two-time winner of the American Fashion Critic's Award and was inducted into the Fame in 1973. In 1993 to 2002, Oscar de la Renta designed the haute couture collection for the house of Pierre Balmain, becoming the first Dominican to design for a French couture house.
The Dominican Republic has also honored him with the order al Mérito de
Juan Pablo Duarte and the Order of Cristóbal Colón. De la Renta has contributed extensively in the construction of a much needed school near his home at The PUNTACANA Resort and Club in
Punta Cana.
De la Renta serves as a board member of the Metropolitan Opera, New York Opera House, Carnegie Hall, and
WNET. He also serves on the boards of several charitable institutions such as New Yorkers for Children, the America's Society and is presently chairman of the
Queen Sofia Spanish Institute.
His clothes were worn by many celebrities, including
Hillary Clinton,
Nancy Reagan,
Laura Bush,
Jenna Bush, and others.
Citizenship
De la Renta was solely a Dominican citizen due to past
United States law prohibiting dual-citizenship. He renounced his Dominican citizenship in 1971, (a formality required by the US, given that Dominican citizenship is non-renounceable) when he was naturalized as a United States citizen. Although he was offered the post of Dominican ambassador to the United States, de la Renta refused to part with his newly acquired citizenship, and declined the nomination. Today he holds both a US and a Dominican passport.
Marriages
In 1967, de la Renta became the third husband of
Françoise de Langlade (1931–1983), an editor-in-chief of
French Vogue who once worked for the fashion house of
Elsa Schiaparelli. She previously was married to businessman Jean Bruère and diplomat Nicholas Bagenow. After her third marriage, Françoise de la Renta worked as a consultant to
Elizabeth Arden, became a prominent hostess, had their
Manhattan apartment decorated by
Denning & Fourcade, and later opened her own decorating business (among her clients were
Florinda Bolkan and
Helmut Berger). Of her approach to fashion, she once said, "Oscar is not my favorite designer–just one of them." As
The New York Times noted after her death, "She was also widely credited for some of the successes of her husband, the fashion designer Oscar de la Renta. Although she was not active in his business, she attracted many of the rich and famous to his shows."
In 1989, the designer married
Annette Reed (1939-). She is the former wife of
American Heritage magazine publisher Samuel Pryor Reed and the only child of the German banker Dr.
Fritz Mannheimer and his wife,
Marie Annette Reiss.
De la Renta has stepchildren from both marriages; he adopted a Dominican child, Moises de la Renta.
