Oscar de la Renta
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Oscar de la Renta (born July 22, 1932) is a leading fashion designer.
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[edit] Early Years
De la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic to a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father. At the age of 18, he moved to 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 the house of Lanvin in Paris. In 1963, he moved to New York to design the couture collection for Elizabeth Arden. He was one of the three famous protégés of Baron de Gunzburg, the others being Bill Blass and Calvin Klein.[1] In 1965, de la Renta began his signature ready-to-wear label.
[edit] Clothing Line
In 2001, Oscar de la Renta debuted his accessory collection, which includes bags, belts and shoes. Other products of the company include cosmetic cases, eyewear, fragrances, furs, jewelry, scarves and sleepwear. For men, his licensed products including hosiery, sport coats, suits, and trousers. He has also released and marketed a line of sportswear throughout Latin American for men and boys. In 2002, Oscar de la Renta Home debuted a furniture collection and home fragrance collection. Since then tabletop, decorative fabrics, wallpaper, bedding, rugs and decorative accents have been added to the collection.
In 1981, de la Renta donated his time for four years as the primary designer of a complete new set of uniforms for the Boy Scouts of America.[2]
[edit] 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. 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 Coty American Fashion Critic's Award and was inducted into the Coty Hall of 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 American ever 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 in Punta Cana.
De la Renta serves as a board member of the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, and Channel Thirteen/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.
[edit] Citizenship
Although his father was a US citizen, de la Renta was solely a Dominican citizen due to past United States law prohibiting dual-citizenship. He renounced his Dominican citizenship in 1971, 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.[1]
[edit] Marriages
In 1967, Oscar de la Renta became the third husband of Françoise de Langlade (1931–1983), an editor-in-chief of French Vogue. Born in Bordeaux to an insurance salesman and his wife and raised between Paris and the island of Martinique, she worked for the fashion house of Elsa Schiaparelli and the fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar before joining French Vogue. For several years, she was the mistress of French banking heir Baron Elie de Rothschild, and she had been married to businessman Jean Bruère and diplomat Nicholas Bagenow. After her marriage to de la Renta, she worked as a consultant to Elizabeth Arden, had their Manhattan apartment decorated by Denning & Fourcade and later opened her own decorating business (among her clients were Florinda Bolkan, Helmut Berger, and Marina Cicogna). Of her approach to fashion, she once said, "Oscar is not my favorite designer–just one of them."
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 also has an adopted son, Moises de la Renta.
[edit] References
- ^ Dupont, Ronald J, Jr. (1991). Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg. The Vernon Stories of Jacobus Van Brug. Retrieved on 09 July 2006.
- ^ Peterson, Robert (2002). From Doughboy Duds to Oscar de la Renta. Scouting Magazine. Boy Scouts of America. Retrieved on 07 June 2006.
