Oscar Dela Renta – Famous Dominican Fashion Designer

Born on July 22, 1932 in city of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Oscar de la Renta is one of the leading fashion designers in the world.

Born as Oscar Aristides Renta Fiallo, de la Renta is a son of a Puerto Rican father and Dominican mother. When he turned 18, he moved to Spain to continue his studies. He attended the Academy of San Fernando in the city of Madrid and studied painting. He then developed his passion for fashion designing and started making sketches for famous fashion houses in Spain. This paved way to his apprenticeship to Cristóbal Balenciaga, considered as the most popular Spanish couturier. When De la Renta moved to Paris, he worked for Antonio Castillo as his couture assistant.

In 1963, torn between choosing a job as a designer for Elizabeth Arden or designing ready-to-wear clothes, shoes, and accessories for Christian Dior in New York City, he seek the advice of the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine Diana Vreeland. With his goal of creating his own label to make money, Vreeland advised de la Renta to work for Elizabeth Arden instead for the reason that it is with Arden that he could build up his reputation in the fashion industry faster; since Arden is not a designer hence she would be promoting de la Renta’s work. Diana Vreeland added that if he chose to work for Dior, he would always remain a shadow to Dior’s name.

Hence, in 1963, de la Renta started working for Elizabeth Arden in New York City. Two years after, he created his own ready-to-wear label. Over the years, he won numerous awards including CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award (1990) and CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year (2000). At preset, Oscar is considered as one of the beast and lading fashion designer in the world.