Article:

Oscar de la Renta was a great man, and a great American designer. Over five decades he made fashion that was elegant, based on the tools of the trade that he learned in Spain at Balenciaga, and in Paris, at Lanvin under Antonio Castillo. I also considered him one of my close, best friends. He truly cared about my well-being, regardless of whether or not it was my weight-loss battle, or was I lonely, and would I come dine with him and Annette at home in New York. I spent Thanksgiving with him, about eight or nine years ago, just the three of us and his son Moises in Kent, Connecticut. Family was of the utmost importance to him. The wedding he and his wife created for stepdaughter Eliza Bolen’s nuptials, was one of the most beautiful and original country weddings I ever attended. And the social world was there in full force. 
  
 Oscar was king of the historical social anecdote, no matter if it was about the Marquis de Cuevas’s famous costume ball, or Marie-Hélène de Rothschild’s dinners. He lived through his youth, following the great bullfighters of Spain, when he worked in Madrid, he honed his design DNA in Paris and with his great success in New York, he always gave back, philanthropically. He personally supported an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. This was one of his passions—he provided housing, food, education, and hope for those beautiful children. 
  
 I met Oscar de la Renta, in 1974, when I arrived in New York. He was then wed to his first wife, Françoise de Langlade, a former French Vogue editor-in-chief. Oscar and Françoise took me under their wings and mentored me socially. 
  
 Every single morning, Françoise would call me once I got to my desk at Women’s Wear Daily down on Twelfth Street. It was an open floor plan then, and my desk was no more than ten steps from John Fairchild’s desk with a low bookcase separating us. I was an accessories editor, and at night, a beat reporter. This is where I learned my craft as a social chronicler. Françoise would often call me up and ask me where I had been and what I had done the night before. 
  
 Oscar and his wife were the first to invite me to dinner in their home, with the likes of Dr. Henry Kissinger, or Tatiana and Alexander Liberman; they also invited me to dinner when they were in Paris, with their friends, like Cristiana Brandolini d’Adda and the late Andre Olivier. 
  
 One day, Françoise called me and said I had messed up socially, I had forgotten to come to lunch with just her and Annette Reed, now Mrs. de la Renta. In those days—the seventies—Oscar and Françoise were the Social Lions of New York. They served the best food and made dinner at home a vast, rich experience of color and textures with wine and decor. In the new book, Valentino: At the Emperor’s Table, Valentino specifically wanted me to write in the introduction how Oscar and his wife were the best and most outstanding New York host and hostess. 
  
 His impeccable personal style with people, parties, and fashion fueled his work. Known for his appropriate elegance, he always designed with the ultimate motivation that women must look and feel beautiful. Having worked beside him on so many of his Balmain haute couture collections for nearly a decade as a stylist, I watch him return again and again to his roots, the highest standards of French couture, having first apprenticed with Cristóbal Balenciaga in Madrid, and then working as designer at Castillo-Lanvin. There was always a sense of the flourish of a great flamenco flounce in his dinner and evening dresses, the bias elegance of silk charmeuse in slim sheath dresses, and simple black or white cashmere coats, that his wife Annette loved. In the winter, she often wears one of his cashmere coats to dinner and never removes it, she loves them so. 
  
 In 2013, Oscar asked me to help him with an exhibit that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton organized on First Lady style at the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. We all flew down to the presidential library and the show was full of exquisite, elegant de la Renta clothes worn by former First Ladies from Nancy Reagan to Laura Bush. 
  
 As evidenced in his last great wedding dress, which he designed for Mrs. George Clooney, Oscar was also a master of the grand wedding gown. My favorite, of course, was the dress and veil he designed for Elizabeth Shaffer, who got married last summer. Oscar and Annette took a helicopter and flew down from Connecticut to Long Island so that he could make the final adjustments just before she walked down the aisle. 
  
 Some of my fondest memories of Oscar are in his native Dominican Republic, diving into a natural waterfall in the mountains, or having the ultimate pleasure of seeing him dance. He was the best dancer. It was a joy just to be in his presence, especially in his beautiful homes and gardens, where happiness reigned. 
  
 Click through the slideshow below for Oscar de la Renta’s best moments in Vogue. ||||| By Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images. 
  
 Oscar de la Renta, a storied couturier with a flair for the romantic, who dressed countless members of Hollywood, political, and actual royalty in a six-decade fashion career, died Monday at age 82 at his home in Kent, Connecticut, his wife Anette de la Renta told The New York Times. 
  
 De la Renta had battled cancer at various intervals in recent years. 
  
 Born in the Dominican Republic, and trained in Spain and Paris, the designer studied under Balenciaga and designed for Lanvin before starting his eponymous label that catered especially to the socialites of the day like Babe Paley and C.Z. Guest. He dressed many a First Lady in his illustrious career, such as Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama. 
  
 During a 2009 interview with Vanity Fair’s John Heilpern, the designer admitted that the “ladies who lunch” were never his target clients. 
  
 “Let me tell you, it was never the ladies who lunch. They never lunched! They always wanted to stay thin.” 
  
 “You want to know who my customer is?” he asked. “All the women who can afford to buy my clothes! My customers are successful workingwomen. They might be spending less at the moment, but my approach is that fashion must always be optimistic, and that a woman will always be enticed by beautiful clothes.” 
  
 In recent years, those working women could quite often be found on awards season red carpets. De la Renta followed his vision through until the very end, making headlines just last month for designing Amal Clooney’s stunning wedding gown, for her Venice-set nuptials to George Clooney. 
  
 Related: The Importance of Being Oscar |||||
What is a summary?
– Fashion designer and icon Oscar de la Renta died yesterday at 82, after a yearslong battle with cancer, the New York Times reports. His illness, the paper notes, didn't slow him down: He designed Amal Alamuddin's dress for her wedding to George Clooney just last month, and his business expanded by 50% in the eight years he faced the disease. The Dominican Republic-born designer's clientele ranged from first ladies—including Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, and Michelle Obama, Vanity Fair reports—to Oscar winners. "You want to know who my customer is?” he once asked. "All the women who can afford to buy my clothes!" He began work in fashion design in the 1950s in Spain, when the wife of the then-US ambassador saw his drawings and sought a dress for her daughter. His career moved him to Paris and eventually the US in 1963. By the 1970s, de la Renta and his first wife, Françoise de Langlade, were "the Social Lions of New York," André Leon Talley writes in Vogue. The Times notes that the couple were central to the rise of designers as the social elite. But de la Renta didn't see his work as particularly "heavy. Somebody might ask, 'What is Oscar de la Renta?' And you could say, 'It's a pretty dress.'"
Artikel: Oscar de la Renta var en stor man, och en stor amerikansk designer. Under fem decennier gjorde han mode som var elegant, baserat på de verktyg för handeln som han lärde sig i Spanien på Balenciaga, och i Paris, på Lanvin under Antonio Castillo. Jag betraktade honom också som en av mina nära, bästa vänner. Han brydde sig verkligen om mitt välbefinnande, oavsett om det var min viktminskning eller inte, eller var jag ensam, och skulle jag komma och äta middag med honom och Annette hemma i New York. Jag tillbringade Thanksgiving med honom, för åtta eller nio år sedan, bara vi tre och hans son Moises i Kent, Connecticut. Familjen var av yttersta vikt för honom. Bröllopet han och hans fru skapade för styvdottern Eliza Bolens bröllopspar, var ett av de vackraste och mest originella lantbröllop jag någonsin varit med på. Och den sociala världen var där med full kraft. Oscar var kung över den historiska sociala anekdoten, oavsett om det handlade om markisen de Cuevas berömda kostymbal, eller Marie-Hélène de Rothschilds middagar. Han levde genom sin ungdom, efter Spaniens stora tjurfäktare, då han arbetade i Madrid, han finslipade sitt design-DNA i Paris och med sina stora framgångar i New York, gav han alltid tillbaka, filantropiskt. Han stödde personligen ett barnhem i Dominikanska republiken. Detta var en av hans passioner – han tillhandahöll bostäder, mat, utbildning och hopp för dessa vackra barn. Jag träffade Oscar de la Renta 1974, när jag kom till New York. Han gifte sig då med sin första hustru, Françoise de Langlade, en före detta fransk Vogue-redaktör. Oscar och Françoise tog mig under sina vingar och handledde mig socialt. Varje morgon ringde Françoise mig när jag kom till mitt skrivbord på Women’s Wear Daily nere på Tolfth Street. Det var en öppen planlösning då, och mitt skrivbord låg inte mer än tio steg från John Fairchilds skrivbord med en låg bokhylla som skilde oss åt. Jag var redaktör för accessoarer, och på natten en beat reporter. Det var här jag lärde mig mitt hantverk som social krönikör. Françoise ringde ofta upp mig och frågade mig var jag hade varit och vad jag hade gjort kvällen innan. Oscar och hans hustru var de första som bjöd in mig till middag i deras hem, med dr Henry Kissingers eller Tatianas och Alexander Libermans likasinnade; de bjöd mig också på middag, när de var i Paris, med sina vänner, som Cristiana Brandolini d’Adda och den bortgångne Andre Olivier. En dag ringde Françoise mig och sa att jag hade ställt till det socialt, jag hade glömt att komma på lunch med bara henne och Annette Reed, nu mrs de la Renta. På den tiden, på sjuttiotalet, var Oscar och Françoise New Yorks Sociallejon. De serverade den bästa maten och gjorde middag hemma en stor, rik upplevelse av färg och texturer med vin och inredning. I den nya boken, Valentino: Vid kejsarbordet, ville Valentino uttryckligen att jag i inledningen skulle skriva hur Oscar och hans hustru var den bästa och mest framstående New York-värden och värdinnan. Hans oklanderliga personliga stil med människor, fester och mode underblåste hans arbete. Känd för sin lämpliga elegans, utformade han alltid med den ultimata motivationen att kvinnor måste se och känna sig vackra. Efter att ha arbetat bredvid honom på så många av hans Balmain haute couture samlingar i nästan ett decennium som en stylist, jag ser honom återvända om och om igen till sina rötter, den högsta standarden på franska couture, efter att först ha lärling med Cristóbal Balenciaga i Madrid, och sedan arbeta som designer på Castillo-Lanvin. Det fanns alltid en känsla av blomstringen av en stor flamenco volang i hans middags- och kvällsklänningar, den partiska elegans av siden charmeuse i smala slidklänningar, och enkla svart eller vita kashmirrockar, som hans fru Annette älskade. På vintern bär hon ofta en av hans kashmirrockar till middag och tar aldrig bort den, hon älskar dem så. År 2013 bad Oscar mig hjälpa honom med en utställning som utrikesminister Hillary Clinton organiserade på First Lady stil på Clinton Library i Little Rock, Arkansas. Vi flög alla ner till presidentbiblioteket och showen var full av utsökta, eleganta de la Renta kläder som bars av före detta First Ladies från Nancy Reagan till Laura Bush. Som framgår av hans sista stora bröllopsklänning, som han designade åt mrs George Clooney, var Oscar också en mästare i den storslagna brudklänningen. Min favorit var naturligtvis klänningen och slöjan han designade åt Elizabeth Shaffer, som gifte sig förra sommaren. Oscar och Annette tog en helikopter och flög ner från Connecticut till Long Island så att han kunde göra de sista justeringarna strax innan hon gick nerför gången. Några av mina käraste minnen av Oscar finns i hans hemland Dominikanska republiken, dyker ner i ett naturligt vattenfall i bergen, eller har det ultimata nöjet att se honom dansa. Han var den bästa dansaren. Det var en glädje bara att vara i hans närvaro, särskilt i hans vackra hem och trädgårdar, där lyckan härskade. Klicka på bildspelet nedan för Oscar de la Rentas bästa stunder i Vogue. Av Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images. Oscar de la Renta, en storslagen couturier med stil för romantikern, som klädde otaliga medlemmar av Hollywood, politiska, och faktiska kungligheter i en sex-decennium modekarriär, dog måndagen vid 82 års ålder i sitt hem i Kent, Connecticut, hans fru Anette de la Renta berättade The New York Times. De la Renta hade bekämpat cancer med olika intervall under senare år. Designern föddes i Dominikanska republiken och utbildade sig i Spanien och Paris och studerade under Balenciaga och designade för Lanvin innan han startade sin eponymetikett som särskilt passade dåtidens societeter som Babe Paley och C.Z. Gäst. Han klädde många en First Lady i sin lysande karriär, som Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush och Michelle Obama. Under en intervju med Vanity Fairs John Heilpern 2009 medgav designern att "damerna som lunchar" aldrig var hans målgrupp. — Låt mig säga er, det var aldrig damerna som lunchade. De lunchade aldrig! De har alltid velat hålla sig smala.” ”Vill du veta vem min kund är?” frågade han. — Alla de kvinnor, som ha råd att köpa mina kläder! Mina kunder är framgångsrika arbetande kvinnor. De kanske spenderar mindre för tillfället, men mitt förhållningssätt är att mode alltid måste vara optimistiskt, och att en kvinna alltid kommer att lockas av vackra kläder. "På senare år, kunde de arbetande kvinnorna ganska ofta hittas på utmärkelser säsong röda mattor. De la Renta följde sin vision fram till slutet, vilket gjorde rubriker bara förra månaden för att designa Amal Clooney fantastiska brudklänning, för hennes Venedig-set nuptials till George Clooney. Related: Betydelsen av att vara Oscar Vad är en sammanfattning?
Article: Oscar de la Renta was a great man, and a great American designer. For five decades he made fashion that was elegant, based on the tools for commerce that he learned in Spain at Balenciaga, and in Paris, at Lanvin under Antonio Castillo. I also viewed him as one of my close, best friends. He really cared about my well-being, whether it was my weight loss or not, or was I alone, and would I come and have dinner with him and Annette at home in New York. I spent Thanksgiving with him, eight or nine years ago, just the three of us and his son Moises in Kent, Connecticut. The family was of the utmost importance to him. The wedding he and his wife created for stepdaughter Eliza Bolen's wedding couple, was one of the most beautiful and original country weddings I've ever attended. And the social world was there with full force. Oscar was king of the historic social anecdotes, whether it was about the famous costume ball of the Marquis de Cueva, or Marie-Hélène de Rothschild's dinners. He lived through his youth, after Spain's great bullfighter, working in Madrid, he honed his design DNA in Paris and with his great success in New York, he always gave back, philanthropic. He personally supported an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. This was one of his passions—he provided housing, food, education, and hope for these beautiful children. I met Oscar de la Renta in 1974 when I arrived in New York. He then married his first wife, Françoise de Langlade, a former French Vogue editor. Oscar and Françoise took me under their wings and mentored me socially. Every morning, Françoise called me when I came to my desk at the Women’s Wear Daily down on Twelfth Street. It was an open plan at the time, and my desk was no more than ten steps from John Fairchild's desk with a low bookcase separating us. I was the editor of accessories, and at night a beat reporter. This is where I learned my craft as a social columnist. Françoise often called me up and asked me where I had been and what I had done the night before. Oscar and his wife were the first to invite me to dinner at their home, with the likes of Dr. Henry Kissinger or Tatiana and Alexander Liberman; they also invited me to dinner, when they were in Paris, with their friends, such as Cristiana Brandolini d’Adda and the late Andre Olivier. One day Françoise called me and told me I had messed up socially, I forgot to come to lunch with just her and Annette Reed, now Mrs. de la Renta. At the time, in the seventies, Oscar and Françoise were New York's Social Lions. They served the best food and made dinner at home a great, rich experience of color and textures with wine and decor. In the new book, Valentino: At the emperor’s table, Valentino specifically wanted me to write in the introduction how Oscar and his wife were the best and most distinguished New York host and hostess. His impeccable personal style with people, parties and fashion fueled his work. Known for his appropriate elegance, he always designed with the ultimate motivation that women must look and feel beautiful. After working next to him on so many of his Balmain haute couture collections in almost a decade as a stylist, I see him returning over and over again to his roots, the highest standard of French couture, having first apprenticed with Cristóbal Balenciaga in Madrid, and then working as a designer at Castillo-Lanvin. There was always a sense of the flowering of a large flamenco flounce in his dinner and evening dresses, the biased elegance of silk charmeuse in narrow sheath dresses, and simple black or white cashmere coats, which his wife Annette loved. In winter she often wears one of his cashmere coats for dinner and never removes it, she loves them so much. In 2013, Oscar asked me to help him with an exhibition organized by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at First Lady style at the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. We all flew down to the presidential library and the show was full of exquisite, elegant de la Renta clothes worn by former First Ladies from Nancy Reagan to Laura Bush. As shown in his last large wedding dress, which he designed for Mrs. George Clooney, Oscar was also a master in the grand wedding dress. My favorite was of course the dress and veil he designed for Elizabeth Shaffer, who married last summer. Oscar and Annette took a helicopter and flew down from Connecticut to Long Island so he could make the final adjustments just before going down the aisle. Some of my dearest memories of Oscar are in his native Dominican Republic, diving into a natural waterfall in the mountains, or having the ultimate pleasure of watching him dance. He was the best dancer. It was a joy just to be in his presence, especially in his beautiful homes and gardens, where happiness ruled. Click on the slideshow below for Oscar de la Renta's best moments in Vogue. By Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images. Oscar de la Renta, a grand couturier with style for the romantic, who dressed countless members of Hollywood, political, and actual royalty in a six-decade fashion career, died Monday at the age of 82 at his home in Kent, Connecticut, his wife Anette de la Renta told The New York Times. De la Renta had fought cancer at different intervals in recent years. Born in the Dominican Republic, the designer trained in Spain and Paris and studied under Balenciaga and designed for Lanvin before starting his eponymous label which specifically suited societyes of the time such as Babe Paley and C.Z. Guest. He dressed many a First Lady in his brilliant career, such as Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama. During an interview with Vanity Fairs John Heilpern in 2009, the designer admitted that "the ladies who lunch" were never his target group. — Let me tell you, it was never the ladies who were lunching. They never had lunch! They have always wanted to stay slim.” “Do you want to know who my customer is?” he asked. — All the women who can afford to buy my clothes! My clients are successful working women. They may spend less at the moment, but my approach is that fashion always has to be optimistic, and that a woman will always be attracted by beautiful clothes. “In recent years, the working women could quite often be found on awards season red carpets. De la Renta followed her vision until the end, making headlines just last month to design Amal Clooney's amazing wedding dress, for her Venice-set nuptials to George Clooney. Related: The importance of being Oscar What is a summary?
– Modedesigner och ikon Oscar de la Renta dog igår vid 82 års ålder, efter en lång kamp med cancer, rapporterar New York Times. Hans sjukdom, papperslapparna, saktade inte ner honom: Han designade Amal Alamuddins klänning till hennes bröllop till George Clooney bara förra månaden, och hans verksamhet expanderade med 50% under de åtta år han stod inför sjukdomen. Den Dominikanska republiken-födda designerns kundkrets varierade från första damer-inklusive Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, och Michelle Obama, Vanity Fair rapporter-till Oscar vinnare. "Vill du veta vem min kund är?" frågade han en gång. "Alla kvinnor som har råd att köpa mina kläder!" Han började arbeta inom modedesign på 1950-talet i Spanien, då hustrun till dåvarande USA:s ambassadör såg hans teckningar och sökte en klänning åt sin dotter. Hans karriär flyttade honom till Paris och så småningom USA 1963. På 1970-talet var de la Renta och hans första fru, Françoise de Langlade, "New Yorks Sociallejon", skriver André Leon Talley i Vogue. The Times konstaterar att paret var centrala för uppkomsten av designers som den sociala eliten. Men de la Renta såg inte hans arbete som särskilt "tunga. Någon kanske frågar: "Vad är Oscar de la Renta?" Och man kan säga: 'Det är en vacker klänning.'"
“Mode designer and icon Oscar de la Renta died yesterday at the age of 82, after a long battle with cancer,” reports the New York Times. His illness, the paper slips, did not slow him down: He designed Amal Alamuddin's dress for her wedding to George Clooney just last month, and his business expanded by 50% over the eight years he faced the illness. The Dominican Republic-born designer's clientele ranged from first ladies-including Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, and Michelle Obama, Vanity Fair reports-to Oscar winners. "Do you want to know who my client is?" he once asked. "All women who can afford to buy my clothes!" He began working in fashion design in the 1950s in Spain, when the wife of the then United States ambassador saw his drawings and sought a dress for his daughter. His career moved him to Paris and eventually the United States in 1963. In the 1970s, de la Renta and his first wife, Françoise de Langlade, were "New York's Social Lion", writes André Leon Talley in Vogue. The Times notes that the couple were central to the emergence of designers as the social elite. But de la Renta did not see his work as particularly "heavy. Someone might ask, "What is Oscar de la Renta?" And you could say, 'It's a beautiful dress.'"