I am a very restless person. I am always doing something. The creative process never stops.
- Oscar de la Renta
Early Life :
Oscar Aristides de la Renta Fiallo was born on July 22, 1932 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in a Catholic family. His mother was Carmen Maria Antonia Fiallo who was a Dominican and father Oscar Avelino de la Renta who was a Puerto Rican. He was the seventh and youngest of all siblings. He was the only boy in the house with 6 sisters. His father was the owner of an insurance company. At the age of 18, his mother died due to some health complications.
Career :
Initially, de la renta was very much interested in painting. So he went to Spain to study painting at Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. To meet his expenses, he drew dressing sketches to various fashion houses as well as for fashion magazines. He interest turned towards fashion designing from painting. His designs landed him an apprenticeship with famous couturier, Cristobal Balenciaga. In 1961, de la Renta travelled to Paris to work as assistant to head designer at Lanvin. He then decided that ready-to-wear line is what earns the real huge money. Under the mentorship of the then editor-in-chief of Vogue, Diana Vreeland, who suggested to meet Arden and work there.
There he was exposed to giants of the industry and gained valuable contacts. In the year 1965, he launched his own label. In 1966, he married Francoise de Langlade, an editor-in-chief of Vogue. She was also one of the main reason of his success as she used all her influence to make her husbands collection to get an attention. From 1973-1976, and from 1986-1988, he was the president of Council of Fashion Designers of America. De la Renta expanded his business and achieved new heights as his designs were feminine and flattering. Around year 2000, his designs became famous among the american society and became preferred wear of american first ladies. He dressed first lady Nancy Reagan in 1980's and designed dresses for inaugural events for both Hillary Clinton in 1997 and Laura Bush in 2005.
In the year 2002, he entered in to furniture business. He was committed to help the needy and he started foundation named La Casa del Nino. It was intended to give free education to the children of La Romana.
Death :
De la Renta was diagnosed with cancer during early 2000's. He died of complications of the same disease on October 20, 2014 at the age of 82 in Kent, Connecticut. In 2017, de la Renta was honored by the United States postal service with an eleven stamp series, with his photo and his famous designs on it.
