Oscar de la Renta Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo, known professionally as Oscar de la Renta, was a Dominican couturier and ready-to-wear designer, whose designs stood at the forefront of American fashion for almost 60 yearsBorn in Santo Domingo, he was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo. De la Renta became internationally known in the 1960s as one of the couturiers who dressed Jacqueline Kennedy.De la Renta soon traveled to Paris to become a couture design assistant at Lanvin. Within two years, he had moved to New York and joined the Elizabeth Arden, on the advice of the then editor of American Vogue, Diana Vreeland, who told De la Renta “go to Arden because you will make your reputation faster. She is not a designer, so she will promote you. At the other place, you will always be eclipsed by the name of Dior.”A stalwart of the New York fashion scene, the designer built an internationally recognized brand through charm and grace and was thought of as one of the great gentlemen of fashion. It was De la Renta that coaxed John Galliano back into the studio to collaborate with him, following the troubled designer's departure from Christian Dior. Over the course of his career, his designs proved exceptionally popular with American presidential ladies, including Nancy Regan, Hilary Clinton, and Laura Bush.It proved sage advice. De la Renta began his own signature ready-to-wear label in 1965Awards: CFDA Founder's AwardNationality: American, Dominican
