A pall has been cast over the fashion world with the passing of the esteemed American designer Oscar de la Renta. Just last week, British-born Peter Copping had been named the new creative head of the label, a sign that de la Renta, who was 82, was slowing down. But while the world knew that he had been diagnosed with cancer in 2006, few realized just how ill the legend was. And that was typical. De la Renta – or Oscar, as we all loved to call him – was the personification of elegance: an erudite gentleman who charmed me from the first time we met, back in the mid-1980s, at the offices of Fashion Television in Toronto. Born in the Dominican Republic, he had a distinct Latin allure about him; in his presence, women actually swooned. He oozed a kind of old-world glamour, and the seductive twinkle in his eye never failed to make any woman in his presence feel, well, beautiful.
De la Renta had taken off for Spain at the tender age of 18 to study painting, but he soon began apprenticing with Cristobal Balenciaga. He then left for Paris, where he worked as a couture assistant at the house of Lanvin, before moving to New York in the early 1960s to work for Elizabeth Arden. In 1965, he launched his own label and the rest is American fashion history, with the suave de la Renta consistently thrilling both clients and critics with his luxurious approach to modern, feminine dressing. De la Renta spent over five decades outfitting royalty, socialites, Hollywood stars and U.S. first ladies, never failing to wow spectators with his ultra-luxe and always chic creations. (Most recently, he designed the magnificent wedding gown worn by Amal Alamuddin for her marriage to George Clooney.) De la Renta has also taken over the design duties at Balmain from 1993 to 2002, the first time an American designer was at the helm of a Paris couture house. His was the first couture show I ever attended in Paris, and I was duly dazzled.
I had the joy of interviewing de la Renta countless times over the years, but the last time I had a lengthy conversation with him was in 2011 at The Room in Toronto, when he launched a new fragrance called Live in Love. There was something about that exchange that touched me deeply, maybe because it had nothing to do with the style of his dresses, but rather the style of his life. At 79, he was still going strong, despite his bout with illness. “We have to keep going,” he told me. Then he went on to tell me what his new mantra was. “When you rest, you rust!” he pronounced. Despite his joviality, de la Renta seemed to have become especially philosophical. “You know, happiness has nothing to do with wealth,” he said. “It has to do with your spirit. And you have to discover that spirit to discover happiness.” Now, that journey of discovery may be over, but his spirit, which is his real legacy, lives on.