Óscar de la Renta

From Hispanopedia
Óscar de la Renta
Óscar de la Renta at the Hotel Ritz in Madrid, during a visit to Spain in 2008.
ChildrenMoisés de la Renta
Parent(s)Óscar Avelino de la Renta
Carmen María Antonia Fiallo

Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo (Santo Domingo, July 22, 1932 – Kent, Connecticut, October 20, 2014)[1] was a Dominican fashion designer. He received major awards and over the years diversified his creations into many areas of design. He was also connected to his native country through various charitable activities. De la Renta was a disciple of Balenciaga and Antonio Castillo.[2][3] He achieved international fame in the 1960s as one of the designers of Jacqueline Kennedy, former First Lady of the United States.[4]

Biography

Early years

Óscar de la Renta was born on July 22, 1932, in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, into a prominent family. His mother was the Dominican Carmen María Antonia Fiallo and his father was the Puerto Rican Óscar Avelino de la Renta, born in Ponce, owner of an insurance company in Puerto Rico.[5][6] De la Renta was the nephew of the Dominican poet Fabio Fiallo and the cousin of the Dominican politician Viriato Fiallo.

From an early age he showed an interest in painting, an idea strongly encouraged by his mother but one that did not entirely convince his father. To prove to his father that his interest in the visual arts was genuine, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts of Santo Domingo at the age of 15, attending in the afternoons, since in the mornings he went to his secondary school. At the art academy he was the youngest student, as the rest of his classmates had already completed their high school studies.[5] At 18 he moved to Madrid to study painting at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.[7] Over time his father stopped sending him money for his expenses in Madrid because of his lack of interest in joining the family business, which put him in financial difficulties.[5][8] To earn additional income, he drew illustrations of haute couture outfits for newspapers and fashion houses.[9] During this period he met Baroness Aïno de Bodisco at an event; he struck up a friendship with her, and she claims to have launched his career as a fashion designer by promoting his dresses among her friends.[10] After Francesca Lodge, wife of John Davis Lodge, former United States Ambassador to Spain, saw some of his sketches and received Bodisco's recommendation,[11] she commissioned de la Renta to design a gown for her daughter's debut in society.[12] A photograph of the designer making the final adjustments to the dress of his first official client appeared in a feature in Life magazine in the fall of 1956.[9][12]

Shortly afterwards he managed to make sketches for the leading Spanish fashion houses,[5] which allowed him to become an apprentice to one of the most renowned couturiers, Cristóbal Balenciaga, whom he considered his mentor.[13][14] In 1961 he left Spain to work alongside Antonio del Castillo, as an assistant, at the fashion house Lanvin, in the city of Paris.[15]

Launch of his own company

In 1963 he moved to New York and dressed dozens of celebrities; his career was catapulted to international fame after he dressed the nation's first ladies Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush.[16]

In 1980 he was asked to design a new uniform for the Boy Scouts of America, a project to which he devoted two years and on which he worked free of charge.[17]

In 2001, Óscar de la Renta debuted his own collection of accessories, which includes handbags, belts and shoes. Among the company's other products are cosmetics, eyewear, fragrances, furs, jewelry, scarves and sleepwear.

For men, his licensed or registered products include hosiery, sport coats, suits and trousers. He also launched a line of sportswear in Latin America for men and young people. In 2002, Oscar de la Renta Home released a furniture collection and a collection of home fragrances.

Citizenship

In 1971 Óscar de la Renta acquired United States citizenship and renounced his Dominican citizenship, since the United States did not allow dual citizenship at that time.[18] Although he was offered the post of Dominican Ambassador to the United States, de la Renta refused to give up his newly acquired citizenship and declined the appointment. Nevertheless, de la Renta professes to be Dominican at heart and in his fashion creations, and therefore considers it unnecessary to hold any kind of public appointment.

Private life

In 1967 he became the third husband of Françoise de Langlade (1931–1983), at that time editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, but he was widowed in 1983 when Langlade died of breast cancer.[19] In 1984, having had no children up to that point, he decided to adopt a boy in the Dominican Republic, whom he named Moisés de la Renta.[20] In 1989, the designer married Anne France Engelhard (Annette) (1939– ), who had been married to the editor of American Heritage magazine, Samuel Pryor Reed. Engelhard is the only daughter of the German banker Fritz Mannheimer and his wife Marie Annette Reiss.

Óscar de la Renta died on October 20, 2014, at the age of 82, at his home in the town of Kent, Connecticut.[9] He had been diagnosed with cancer in 2006.[4]

Television appearances

Óscar de la Renta, as a fashion label, has appeared on television numerous times, both in comments and in dresses. For example, in an episode of the HBO series Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw wears a pink dress given to her by her boyfriend Aleksandr Petrovsky. It also appears on the shoebox in which Kitty Walker, of the series Brothers & Sisters, keeps some letters that her husband does not want her to see, and which he sends his sister to fetch from his hospital bed.

Honors

He dressed great celebrities such as Madonna, Anne Hathaway, Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cameron Diaz, Shakira, and Michelle Obama, among many more.

In February 2011, by Royal Decree 179/2011 of February 11, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit, as President of the "Queen Sofía Spanish Institute" of New York.

References

  1. ↑ Kirby, Iona (October 21, 2014). "Legendary fashion designer Oscar de la Renta dies aged 82". Daily Mail. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  2. ↑ Feitelberg, Rosemary (November 7, 2013). "Oscar de la Renta Sits for Q&A at the Design Leadership Summit". WWD. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  3. ↑ Martínez, Miriam (December 2003). "Oscar de la Renta: the man who dresses the First Lady: board member of the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, the American Society, and the Spanish Institute, founder of schools in the Dominican Republic for poor children. (Top Ten Latinos). (Subscription required)". Latino Leaders. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kirby, Iona (October 2014). "Legendary fashion designer Oscar de la Renta dies aged 82". Daily Mail. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Savio, Anita (October 2001). "Hot couture: unfortunately my mother wasn't here to see my success, which I would have liked. But she had her revenge on my father, because by the time he died I was making much, much more money than he ever made in his life (Subscription required)". Latino Leaders. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  6. ↑ Henry, David (October 20, 2014). "Oscar de la Renta, Fashion Guru to U.S. First Ladies, Dies at 82". Bloomberg. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  7. ↑ Ayuso, Rocío (October 21, 2014). "Fallece Óscar de la Renta, el diseñador de moda que hizo de lo bonito, belleza" (in español). El País (España). Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  8. ↑ Gross, Michael. Rogues' Gallery: The Secret Story of the Lust, Lies, Greed, and Betrayals that made the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2013), p. 459.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Horyn, Cathy; Enid Nemy (October 20, 2014). "Oscar de la Renta, Who Clothed Stars and Became One, Dies at 82". The New York Times. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  10. ↑ Smilgis, Martha (April 16, 1979). "Oscar de la Renta Faces An Angry Baroness in a $2 Million Suit for Love's Labors Lost" (Vol. 11 No.15). Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  11. ↑ Gross, Michael. Rogues' Gallery: The Secret Story of the Lust, Lies, Greed, and Betrayals that made the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2013), p. 460.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Bianchi, Martín (October 26, 2014). "Beatriz Lodge, la primera clienta de Óscar de la Renta" (in español). ABC. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  13. ↑ Pardo, Pablo (October 21, 2014). "Muere el diseñador Oscar de la Renta" (in español). El Mundo (España). Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  14. ↑ AFP (October 20, 2014). "Murió a los 82 años Óscar de la Renta" (in español). El Espectador. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  15. ↑ Gale (2005). "Oscar de la Renta (Subscription required)". Newsmakers 2005 Cumulation. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Óscar de la Renta". Archived from the original on June 15, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  17. ↑ Peterson, Robert (October 2002). "From Doughboy Duds to Oscar de la Renta". The Boy Scouts of America. Scouting Magazine. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Así fue como Óscar de la Renta se convirtió en un icono de la moda". El País (in español).
  19. ↑ Koncius, Jura; Ned Martel (October 20, 2014). "Oscar de la Renta, fashion designer, dies at 82". Washington Post. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  20. ↑ Furundarena, Arantza (February 6, 2010). "Un de la Renta de color" (in español). El Diario Montañés. Retrieved October 21, 2014.

Bibliography

  • Gross, Michael (2013). Rogues' Gallery: The secret story of the lust, lies, greed, and betrayals that made the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Broadway Books. ISBN 9780767931458.
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