OSCAR DE LA RENTA MEN'S VINTAGE LAMBSWOOL/CASHMERE BLEND LUXURY BLAZER (INDIA)95% LAMBSWOOL5% CASHMEREHistoryÓscar Arístides Ortiz Renta Fiallo (he changed his name to the more aspirational “de la Renta” later) was born to a Dominican mother and Puerto Rican father in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic in 1932, and raised – the only son with six sisters – in a world filled with intellectuals, artists and politiciansThe groundwork for Oscar’s future as the designer for society’s elite was setMoving to Madrid in Spain at the age of 18 and leaving his mother who was suffering (and later died, not having seen him again) from multiple sclerosis, he studied painting at the Academy of San Fernando – alumni include Pablo Picasso and Salvador DalíHe soon found himself illustrating for some of the biggest fashion houses in Spain to help pay the bills and prove to his father that he could make a living, as well as dancing up a stormHis passion for art and design, and illustrious social connections enabled him to work as an apprentice with Spain’s most famous designer, Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972) in Madrid, and later as an assistant to Antonio Castillo (1908–1984) at Lanvin in ParisThe experience of working with fabrics, designs, and techniques, as well as his advantageous friendship with a wealthy and well-connected Estonian-born baroness and two-time divorcée named Aino de Bodisco, opened the opportunity for him to live in rent-free luxury.
