As a lover of all things fancy, I’m well aware that Oscar de la Renta was one of the ultimate lovers – and creators – of fancy clothes. And his lasting influence on fashion is undeniable. The iconic designer passed away on October 2nd at 82, and leaves behind an incredibly successful and distinguished career.
An true original who never focused on trends of fads, de la Renta was a super talented designer who loved to design beautiful clothes for strong women. When I was younger, I remember anxiously waiting to see his latest collections on Fashion Television. Because his designs always represented his aesthetic – glamourous, feminine and fancy clothes. And when it came to fashion, his name became synonymous with elegance.
De la Renta’s career spanned almost five decades and he enjoyed success throughout. He dressed First Ladies, movie stars and most recently his designed Amal Clooney’s wedding dress. In the past few years, the iconic designer achieved a new younger following as we started to see a big increase in the amount of younger stars wearing his clothes on the red carpet.
But what’s really cool about one of the all-time great designers, is hearing about what a kind and sincere person he was, which was expressed any everyone who worked with him over the years. This quote from Anna Wintour (via nymag.com) says it all: “You can be having dinner with Oscar and the Clintons, and he’s a vivacious host who takes care of everything. Then, after the meal, he’ll go back into the kitchen and play dominoes with everyone who prepared the meal.”
De la Renta’s last collection for spring 2015 well represented his design signature – it was lovely, feminine and, as always, fancy. And after all these years, the fashion crowd loved it. Just last week, his label announced designer Peter Copping would be taking over as his successor. Let’s hope he’ll honour the legacy of such a well-respected person.
R.I.P. Oscar de la Renta. And thanks for creating so many beautiful and fancy designs – and inspiring so many.
Check out the slideshow on nymag.com of some his most glam designs with some of his favourite clients.
Casey Wagar 
He really was exemplary in his style!