The fashion world lost a luminary on Monday, as worldwide fashion star Oscar de la Renta passed away at the age of 82.
ABC News first reported on de la Renta’s death. The fashion icon had been battling cancer since 2006, when he was first diagnosed. He is survived by his second wife, philanthropist Annette Reed. His first wife, French Vogue editor Francois Langlade, died in 1983.
Oscar de la Renta, as Variety points out , first rose to fame dressing former First Lady Jackie Kennedy before moving on to become a fixture on red carpets the world over. His designs have been worn by models, starlets, dignitaries, and more.
He was particularly popular among First Ladies of the United States. De la Renta provided inaugural gowns for Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. Bush and Clinton frequently wore de la Renta gowns, as did Nancy Reagan and Betty Ford.
More recently, De la Renta designed the gown that Amal Clooney wore for one of the biggest celebrity weddings of the year, that of she and Hollywood star George Clooney.
Born in the Dominican Republic, De la Renta left home at the age of 18 to study painting at the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. He then moved on to apprentice with Cristobal Balenciaga and eventually moved to Paris to work at Lanvin and Balmain. His eponymous ready-to-wear label launched in 1965 in New York.
Aside from his well known clothing line, De la Renta lent his famous name to a fragrance, Oscar, as well as a line of accessories. In 2002, he launched a line of de la Renta homewares, including 100 home furnishings like dining tables, couches, and more.
Oscar de la Renta received numerous awards over the course of his career in design and other fields. In 1967, he won the Coty Award, one of the top awards in the U.S. fashion industry, and he was inducted into the Coty Hall of Fame in 1973. De la Renta was also honored with the Order of Merit Duarte, Sanchez and Mella, and the Order of Christopher Columbus.
[Lead image via L’Avengeneance de Style.]
