Despite his global success and his well-earned reputation as a bon vivant on two—or maybe even three!—continents, Oscar de la Renta never lost his disarming modesty. As he traveled around America doing trunk shows, he would sometimes spy a woman sporting one of his creations, sidle up to her, and whisper, “Thank you for wearing my dress.”
Or at least this is how André Leon Talley recalls it, in the charming text accompanying Oscar de la Renta: His Legendary World of Style, a new book that is a companion to the recent ODLR retrospective at the Savannah College of Art and Design. (Talley will be signing copies at the lovely new Rizzoli shop on September 23.)
The late De la Renta, who was born in the Dominican Republic in 1932, convinced his mom to allow him to set off for Spain and seek his fortune when he was just 19. He supported himself at first on $125 his father sent each month as well as what he earned from doing fashion sketches for newspapers. Eventually, he broke into the business—working at Balenciaga and Lanvin, and ultimately opening his own house and dressing an incredible roster of women. Everyone from Sarah Jessica Parker to Taylor Swift, along with a plethora of society stalwarts and a panoply of First Ladies, benefited from his singular commitment to making women look beautiful.
No matter how elaborate a dress’s decoration, how daunting the handiwork embellishing a fabulous frock, for De la Renta, comfort was king—or shall we say, in this case, queen. Anna Wintour, in her forward to the book, describes his gift as “genius plus love.” This credo—intelligence wed to affection—is appearent everywhere in this new book, which celebrates the man, his life, his world, and his rare vision.
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