Oscar de la Renta was born July 22, 1932. He left his native Dominican Republic at the age of 18 to study painting at the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. While living in Spain, he become interested in the world of design and began sketching for leading Spanish fashion houses, which soon led to an apprenticeship with Spain’s most renowned couturier, Cristobal Balenciago.
Later, Oscar de la Renta left Spain to join Antonio Castillo as a couture assistant at the house of Lanvin in Paris.
In 1963, he then came to New York to design the couture collection for Elizabeth Arden. It provided him with the experience which he would later need to launch his own clothing lines and perfume.
In 1965, he left Arden and went to work for Jane Derby Ltd, an American fashion company. After Derbys death in 1969, de la Renta took over the company and renamed it Oscar de la Renta and began his signature ready-to-wear label.
The Oscar de la Renta label is comprised of the Signature ready-to-wear collection and Pink Label. To complement these designs, the Fall 2001 runway show marked the debut of Oscar de la Renta Accessories, bags, belts, jewelry, scarves, and shoes.
His talents receive continual international recognition. Among many other honors, Oscar de la Renta received the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) Womenswear Designer of the Year Award in 2000. In February 1990, he was honored with the CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also a two-time winner of the Coty American Fashion Critic’s Award and was inducted into the Coty Hall of Fame in 1973.
Today he is known as an American fashion designer whose often Latin-flavored work has dominated and influenced the fashion world since the 1970s.
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