The Life And Legacy Of Oscar de la Renta

Oscar de la Renta. Photo: Getty Images.

It's a cold, crisp January day in 2005 and George W. Bush is standing on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, poised to become president of the United States for a second term. Beside him stands his wife, Laura. The First Lady knows that today of all days, her every gesture and expression will be analysed. Appearance is everything.

In his New York studio, designer Oscar de la Renta watches the live stream approvingly. He understands better than most the impression that a First Lady must make. Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton all trusted him to dress them. Laura Bush's white cashmere dress (with matching embroidered coat) is, of course, his.

But while the suave, ultra-polished de la Renta - who has passed away, aged 82 - always catered perfectly to the conservative tastes of America's power elite, he was also famous for conjuring up romantic gowns for the Hollywood A-list. Sarah Jessica Parker was a close friend and he always raved about Penelope Cruz, too.

Born in 1932 in the Dominican Republic, Oscar Aristides Ortiz de la Renta Fiallo grew up with six sisters. From early on he revealed an interest in pampering, and at age seven he tried to make perfume in the backyard: "I thought if I woke up very early, I could collect the dewdrops off the flowers ..."

Aged 18, de la Renta moved to Madrid, where he began an apprenticeship with revered couturier Cristobal Balenciaga. By the '60s, he had moved to Paris to become a couture assistant at Lanvin and, in 1963, he travelled to the US where he was taken under the wing of Vogue's editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland. It was Vreeland who secured him a designer's job at Elizabeth Arden and, soon after, de la Renta launched his eponymous label.

The '60s were the start of his rise to American icon status. In 1967, he married Francoise de Langlade, editor of French Vogue and later editor-at-large at US Vogue. They became the definition of the fashion power couple and their dinner parties were the stuff of legend - mixing Old World money with rising starlets and powerful politicians.

When de Langlade died of bone cancer in 1983 having never had a child with de la Renta, he adopted a young son, Moises, from the Dominican Republic. "I never thought I'd get married again. I thought my son and I would have each other," said de la Renta. However, in 1989, de la Renta did get married again - this time to US philanthropist Annette Engelhard, who is still at his side in his sixth decade as the undisputed fashion king of New York.

Towards the end of his career, and despite his legendary charm, he wasn't averse to a bit of controversy. Relations with US First Lady Michelle Obama were reportedly frosty after he remarked on her choice of an Azzedine Alaia cardigan to meet the Queen: "You don't go to Buckingham Palace in a sweater." And while he adored creating gowns for Hollywood's leading ladies, he was not so enamoured of the lesser celebrities jostling to be seen in his front row. "Do you want to jeopardise the experience of the 100 people that matter with the 500 people that don't?" he challenged when he halved the number of people invited to his spring/summer 2014 presentations.

But editor and publisher of marie claire Jackie Frank believes the real power of de la Renta lay in his vision of feminine beauty. "He saw women so beautifully." His appeal among the social set was perhaps best summed up by society hostess CZ Guest, who said, "Oscar doesn't even know what bad taste is."

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