An American Master IT’S HARD to IMAGINE FASHION WITHOUT OSCAR DE LA RENTA

Home , Donald Brooks, Marco Bizzarri, Marella Agnelli, Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta

WWDWEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY

Oscar de la Renta An American Master IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE FASHION WITHOUT OSCAR DE LA RENTA. THROUGHOUT A CAREER THAT SPANNED MORE THAN 50 YEARS, HE MOVED RESOLUTELY WITH THE TIMES WHILE ADHERING TO HIS CORE BELIEF THAT A DESIGNER SERVES A NOBLE CAUSE: TO HELP WOMEN REALIZE THEIR BEAUTY. FOR FULL COVERAGE OF DE LA RENTA THROUGH THE YEARS, SEE PAGES 4 TO 18.

Oscar de la Renta on the runway in spring 1993.

PHOTO BY OLIVIER CLAISSE 2 WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 WWD.COM High Court Hears Dolce, Gabbana Case THE BRIEFING BOX number of witnesses that were deemed relevant By LUISA ZARGANI to discuss the actual existence of the [Gado] IN TODAY’S WWD structure in Luxembourg.” Another issue at ROME — The Dolce and Gabbana tax case has the heart of the trial was what the defendants’ moved on to the highest level. lawyers called the “fictitious criteria” used to Bridget Foley’s Diary: One must cast a vast net to encompass all The first hearing at the Corte suprema di determine where the management of the com- of the lives Oscar de la Renta, who passed away on Monday night, Cassazione, Italy’s equivalent of the Supreme pany was located and where the decisions were has touched. PAGE 16 Court, took place in Rome on Tuesday morning. taken. The lawyers also lamented that the “sen- The imposing building overlooking the Tiber tence was issued in a few lines and carried out Pharrell Williams, rarely seen without wearing one of his treasured River, referred to as the “Palazzaccio” by the to everyone ipso facto.” Chanel sautoirs, is taking his relationship with the French brand one Romans for its grand dimensions and elaborate Following investigations that began in 2008, step further by appearing in a film by Karl Lagerfeld. PAGE 19 decorations — including a chariot pulling four initiated by the Guardia di Finanza, an Italian po- horses on the roof at the entrance — is intimi- lice force under the authority of the national min- American Apparel Inc. has rehired Iris Alonzo as senior creative dating in itself. The hearing was held in an ex- ister of economy and finance, Dolce and Gabbana director, according to sources. PAGE 19 pansive, high-vaulted, stuccoed marble room were charged with tax evasion related to the 2004 and was presided over by five judges, headed sale of the Dolce & Gabbana and D&G brands to Palladin Consumer Retail Partners has taken a majority investment by president Alfredo Teresi, seated at a long the designers’ Luxembourg-based holding com- PAGE 19 wooden desk structure almost entirely covered pany, Gado Srl. The Italian tax police reportedly in men’s luxury footwear firm Harrys of London. in files brimming with papers. consider Gado essentially a legal entity used to Lawyer Riccardo Olivo was present in place avoid Italy’s higher corporate taxes. Giacomo Corsi, who developed Ruffo into a state-of-the-art leather of the eight lawyers for the defendants: Stefano The lower court judges expressed their be- manufacturer, died Tuesday at age 60. PAGE 19 Gabbana, Alfonso and Domenico Dolce, Cristiana lief that Gado was only fictitiously based in Ruella, Giuseppe Minoni Luxembourg and that and Luciano Patelli. the administration and The Corte suprema di FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA None of the defendants main location of the @ WWD.com/social were in attendance. Cassazione heard the company’s activities Their lawyers, headed Dolce and Gabbana tax were in Italy. The ap- case on Tuesday. TO E-MAIL REPORTERS AND EDITORS AT WWD, THE ADDRESS IS by Massimo Dinoia, are peals court upheld the [email protected], USING THE INDIVIDUAL’S NAME. appealing a guilty ver- decision of the lower WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF FAIRCHILD PUBLISHING, LLC. dict handed down by a court, ruling the defen- COPYRIGHT ©2014 FAIRCHILD PUBLISHING, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. VOLUME 208, NO. 84. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014. WWD (ISSN 0149-5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and Milan appeals court in dants guilty, albeit with holidays, with one additional issue in March, April, May, June, August, October, November and December, and two additional issues in April. That court, headed a two-month reduction February and September) by Fairchild Media, LLC, which is a division of Penske Business Media, LLC. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 11175 Santa Monica Blvd., 9th Fl, Los Angeles, CA 90025. Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA, and at additional mailing offices. Canada Post: by Judge Laura Cariati, in their jail sentences. return undeliverable Canadian addresses to P. O . Box 503, RPO West Beaver Cre, Rich-Hill, ON L4B 4R6. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS dismissed the possibility Dolce, Gabbana and CHANGES TO WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, P. O . Box 6356, Harlan, IA, 51593. FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WWD, P. O . Box 6356, Harlan, IA, 51593, call 866-401-7801, or e-mail customer service at of ignorance in the mat- accountant Luciano wwdPrint@cdsfulfillment.com. Please include both new and old addresses as printed on most recent label. For New York Hand Delivery ter, which the designers Patelli were sen- Service address changes or inquiries, please contact Mitchell’s NY at 1-800-662-2275, option 7. Subscribers: If the Post Office alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year. If during your subscription claimed in their defense, tenced by the appeals term or up to one year after the magazine becomes undeliverable, you are ever dissatisfied with your subscription, let us know. You will receive and, instead, saw “an in- court to one year and a full refund on all unmailed issues. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all editorial, business and production correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. For permissions requests, tentional” plan to avoid six months of jail please call 212-630-5656 or fax request to 212-630-5883. For reprints, please e-mail [email protected] or call Wright’s Media, a higher tax rate in Italy, time. Dolce’s broth- 877-652-5295. For reuse permissions, please e-mail [email protected] or call 800-897-8666. Visit us online at compared with rates in er Alfonso, Dolce & www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild Media, LLC magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.wwd.com/subscriptions. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RETURN OR LOSS O F, OR FOR DAMAGE OR ANY OTHER INJURY TO, UNSOLICITED Luxembourg, where they Gabbana general di- MANUSCRIPTS, UNSOLICITED ARTWORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TRANSPARENCIES), had based ownership of rector Cristiana Ruella OR ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED MATERIALS. THOSE SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ARTWORK, OR OTHER MATERIALS FOR CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEND ORIGINALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IN WRITING. their company. and finance director MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS AND OTHER MATERIALS SUBMITTED MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SELF-ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE. The hearing at the Giuseppe Minoni were Cassazione, Italy’s high- sentenced to one year est court, was to de- and two months in jail Statement Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685 showing the Ownership, Management and Circulation of WWD, published daily except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in March, April, May, June, August, termine if there were plus legal expenses. October, November and December, and two additional issues in February and September for October 1, 2014. any procedural flaws None are likely to serve Publication No. 019-241. Annual subscription price $139.00. or breaches at a lower jail time, given the 1. Location of known office of Publication is 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. court level that might result in a reverse of the Italian practice of waiving incarceration for 2. Location of the Headquarters or General Business Offices of the Publisher is 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. appeals court’s decision. sentences of less than two years. 3. The names and addresses of the Publisher, Editor and Managing Editor are: Publisher, Paul Jowdy, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Editor, Edward Nardoza, 750 Third Avenue, 10017. General prosecutor Francesco Salzano is ex- The defendants, who have always denied all Managing Editor, Peter Sadera, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. pected to speak on Friday, when the judges are charges, were acquitted in June last year on the 4. The owner is: Fairchild Publishing, LLC, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. slated to issue their verdict. “The particular second count with which they were originally Stockholder: Directly or indirectly through intermediate corporations to the ultimate corporate parent, Penske Business Media, LLC, 11175 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. complexity of the procedure and the high num- charged, regarding the valuation of the company 5. Known bondholders, mortgagees and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total ber of defendants does not allow a treatment [of and the tax rate paid. amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities are: None. the case] during the hearing today,” said Teresi The defendants were originally absolved of 6. Extent and nature of circulation on Tuesday. the claims by a lower court in April 2011, but Average No. Copies each issue Single Issue nearest Judge Aldo Aceto, one of the four judge coun- the Cassazione in November 2012 overturned during preceding 12 months to filing date selors, summarized the past three years of trials that decision, saying that tax avoidance, or A. Total No. Copies 31,146 25,732 at the lower court levels, pointing to being “sub- tax mitigation, on an earnings declaration is a B. Paid Circulation merged” by detailed paperwork on the case — to criminal offense under the law. A new trial at (1) Mailed Outside-County Paid 15,490 14,930 a round of stifled sniggering. the first court level began in December 2012 and Subscriptions Stated on Among some of the flaws that the defendants’ wrapped up at the end of June 2013, with the PS Form 3541 lawyers brought forward, Aceto cited how the defendants found guilty. The appeals court then (2) Mailed In-County Paid 0 0 upheld that decision. Subscriptions Stated on court at the first level “for no reason refuted a PS Form 3541 (3) Paid Distribution Outside the 10,359 9,413 Mails Including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, Kering Names Gianluca Flore Brioni CEO and Other Paid Distribution Outside USPS® as an auditor and financial adviser at Arthur (4) Paid Distribution by Other 17 0 By PAULINA SZMYDKE Classes of Mail Through Andersen and went on to work at La Perla North the USPS America and Fendi Americas. PARIS — The management shuffle at Kering At Brioni, he reports to Bizzarri and is C. Total Paid Distribution 25,866 24,343 D. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution continues. charged with continuing to develop the Italian On Tuesday, the French group said it had tapped men’s wear brand internationally, taking ad- (1) Free or Nominal Rate 2,134 117 Bottega Veneta executive Gianluca Flore as Brioni’s vantage of a fast-growing category of business. Outside-County Copies included on PS Form 3541 new chief executive officer, effective Nov. 1. Bizzarri said Flore’s “understanding of the (2) Free or Nominal Rate 0 0 It was the second appointment in as many luxury market and his knowledge of brand de- In-County Copies days made by Marco Bizzarri, the former ceo of velopment overseas” would be “invaluable in included on PS Form 3541 (3) Free or Nominal Rate Copies 0 0 Bottega Veneta, who in July took up a new post perpetuating the success and international rep- Mailed at Other Classes as ceo of Kering’s luxury couture and leath- utation of the house.” Through the USPS er goods division. As reported, former Stella Bizzarri also thanked Pesci for his dedica- (4) Free or Nominal Rate 1,723 275 Distribution Outside the Mail McCartney and British Fashion Council execu- tion to Brioni. “The integration of the company tive Sarah Crook is to become ceo of Christopher into the Kering group was a highly important E. Total Free or Nominal 3,857 392 Kane, effective Nov. 17. mission and he accomplished it successfully. Rate Distribution F. Total Distribution 29,723 24,735 At Brioni, Flore is to succeed Francesco The brand can now enter a new phase of its de- G. Copies not Distributed 1,423 997 Pesci, who will “take his career in a new direc- velopment,” he added. H. Total 31,146 25,732 tion,” Kering said. His next move could not im- Also this week, Bizzarri tapped Carlo Alberto I. Percent Paid 87.02% 98.42% mediately be learned. Beretta from Ermenegildo Zegna to take over as J. Paid Electonic Copies 33,382 34,388 K. Total Paid Print Copies (line 15c) 59,248 58,731 Pesci had been with Brioni, based in Penne, ceo of Bottega Veneta effective Jan. 7. Bizzarri +Paid Electronic Copies Italy, for almost 15 years. is to remain president of Bottega in order to en- L. Total Print Distribution (Line 15f) 63,105 59,123 Flore has been with Bottega since 2008, initial- sure a smooth transition, as reported. +Paid Electronic Copies M. Percent Paid 93.89% 99.34% ly as president in the Americas region, and most Kering, then PPR, acquired 100 percent of (Both Print and Electronic Copies) recently as worldwide retail and wholesale direc- Brioni from the founding families in 2011 with a tor and ceo of the Asia-Pacific area. plan to push into accessories and expand in the 7. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. (Signed) Danielle Romero, Financial Analyst An Italian national, Flore started his career explosive Asian market. IN LOVING MEMORY OF A TRUE FASHION LEGEND

OSCAR DE LA RENTA 4 WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

Oscar de la Renta An American ERICKSEN KYLE PHOTO BY WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 5 WWD.COM

Oscar de la Renta and his models backstage at the designer’s spring 2005 show in New York. By LORNA KOSKI

NEW YORK — “I hate nostalgia. Fashion is about now.” So Oscar de la Renta said to WWD last year — and he was always in the now. As the industry absorbed the news of the death of de la Renta at his home in Kent, Conn., on Monday night at age 82 after a long battle with cancer, tributes to him poured in from around the world. The things designers, socialites, politi- cians and almost everyone else pointed to were the same: his charm. His taste. His kindness. And, above all else, his ability to make women look beautiful — stretch- ing from his early days at Elizabeth Arden in the Sixties through the last three decades of the 20th century and well into the second decade of the 21st. “He was a great fighter to the end because he loved life and people so much,” said John B. Fairchild, former chairman and editorial director of Fairchild Publications and currently editor at large at WWD, who first met de la Renta when he was “picking up pins at Lanvin in Paris. His charm was everyplace. He was full of kindness, which led to very successful fashions.” “There is much being said that his passing marks the end of an era,” said Anna Wintour. “Not true. He was the most democratic man I knew and he would have lived happily and defined any era. He was happy dining with the rich and famous, for sure, but equally happy playing dominoes with his devoted staff. His designs reflected his extraordinary personality: optimistic, fun, sunny, romantic.” As funeral arrangements were still being made at press time, de la Renta’s reputation remained outsized, certainly compared to the scale of his business, which was less than $200 million in sales. He was the grand master of American fashion, one of the last of the generation that literally put American fashion — and the names that were on the label — on the global map. He was also fashion’s favorite ladies’ man. Strikingly good-looking, fascinated by feminine style, with a strong color sense and impeccable social skills — a wonderful sense of humor among them — he became a court dressmaker to a large portion of the international set and a designer for first ladies from the time of Betty Ford. He was a particular favorite of three of the last: Nancy Reagan, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Laura Bush — and Michelle Obama recently donned one of his dresses at a White House event for fashion students. “He was very handsome, with a perfect Latin-lover look,” noted Karl Lagerfeld. “In this business, very few have the charisma and the class of Oscar.” Donatella Versace called him “American fashion royalty,” while Ralph Lauren said, “I always loved him. He was a very sweet guy....We sort of grew up together....As an American designer, he’s one of the greatest. He brought a great deal of class to American fashion Master and the way he handled himself.” “He was a unique man in the history of fashion, both for workmanship and talent, as well as his creativity and class,” said Donna Karan. She called him “a mentor and role model,” and said, “I looked up to Oscar....There’s not a woman’s life that he didn’t touch.” “I’m really upset,” said Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein. “I started my career with him and worked there six years...He embraced the sensibility of the old with the great style of how we live today. He lived full-on. Everything was important to him. The scent, the color, the way he set a table, the way he entertained, the way he greeted people.” “He had an amazing sense of aesthetics and it [appeared] in his clothes, his houses, his gardens,” said Diane von Furstenberg, echoing Costa’s sen- timents. “He was one of the greatest American designers, with Latin roots and European training. He loved to {Continued on page 6} 6 WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

{Continued from page 5} sing, and his voice will continue to sing in our hearts forever.” Fall 2011 Balmain, In fact, Valentino Garavani recalled, “When I last saw him in spring late August in Greece, he saved me when the host asked me to 2000 sing. He took the microphone from my hands and sang with his perfect voice a couple of Spanish songs. Six weeks ago only.” While de la Renta could design clothes that were editorial darlings, his genius was in making women, regardless of their own intrinsic pulchritude, look and feel beautiful. Romantic, glamorous styles were his signature: tastefully extravagant, Paris influenced (perhaps, at times, too much so), with an un- dercurrent of Latin pizazz. He was best known for his designs for the Ladies Who Lunch, the likes of Babe Paley, C.Z. Guest and Marella Agnelli, along with a glittering constellation of other aristocrats and socialites, performers, broadcasters and top executives, who often became not just customers, but friends. Ye t in recent years, a younger set — which included ac- tresses Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Garner and Lea Michele — fell under his spell. How au courant he could be was further proven by the worldwide publicity his fashion house received for dressing Amal Alamuddin for her wedding to George Clooney in Venice — a media frenzy if there ever was one. De la Renta was born July 22, 1932, in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. (As he once put it, “I am the only Third Fall 1990 World designer.”) At 18, he went to Madrid to study painting at the Academy of San Fernando. There he began sketching for top Spanish fashion houses; before long, he was working with the legendary couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga. De la Renta’s next stop was Paris, where he became a couture assistant to Antonio Castillo, then designer of Lanvin. As de la Renta recalled in 1979, “When I worked in Paris, Castillo and Balenciaga always had evening dresses inspired by Spanish peasants, flamenco; dresses taken from paintings by Goya, Zurbaran, Zuloaga; the bullring colors; the Princess of Eboli [a 16th-century Spanish beauty with an eye patch]. Balenciaga’s dresses never looked ethnic, like costumes.” These descriptions also evoke the styles that made de la Renta’s name. In 1963, he came to New York to design the made-to-measure collection for Elizabeth Arden. Nicolas de Gunzburg, a White Russian aristocrat who was an editor at Vogue, was one of his mentors. (De Gunzburg’s other designer proteges: Bill Blass and Calvin Klein.) Diana Vreeland advised de la Renta to take the position at Arden, noting that there, his own name would be promoted, since Arden herself wasn’t a designer. Vreeland, of course, was right. Key to the designer’s success was a gift for feminine friendship and an elegant lifestyle, both of which he cultivated early on. “The number of icons Oscar saw onto the field — and then off — is staggering,” recalled Patrick McCarthy, former chairman and editorial director of Fairchild Publications. “He was cultivated, imposing and generous. And fun. A lunch, or dinner, with Oscar was something to be relished, not dreaded, as is so often the case in the fashion business. “Oscar never seemed to lose his way, as so many designers do. He started out, and ended, exactly where he wanted to be.” Etta Froio, retired executive editor of WWD and W, praised his “delightfully wicked sense of humor.” De la Renta met Guest in Spain, where they socialized with Francisco Franco. Another friend, Dominican playboy Porfirio Rubirosa, introduced him to the Kennedy clan. Even as a young man new in town as the designer at Arden, de la Renta was living on two floors of a New York townhouse filled with French and Italian period furniture and Spanish paintings. But, as his longtime business partner Jerry Shaw noted, it was the designer’s way with society women that made his career. “Oscar really caters to the ladies,” he said. “He knows how to design beautiful clothes and make women look very attractive.” Almost overnight, it seems, de la Renta became the ultimate extra man, spending weekends with Guest and island-hopping with Paley. The houses and gardens that de la Renta went on to create with his first wife, Françoise de Langlade, and his second, Annette de la Renta, were lushly chronicled in breathless articles in shel- ter and society magazines and newspapers over a period of 40-plus years. For his part, the designer reveled in the domestic plea- sures he enjoyed in his sanctuaries in New York, the Dominican Republic and Kent, Conn., where he loved to cook and garden. In Kent, a dwelling modeled on an English country house was on nearly 500 acres, next to 600 acres of wildlife reserve. Fond of hor- ticulture, which he said he found “relaxing,” de la Renta created remarkable landscapes at his estates and, in 2001, a garden at Lord Jacob Rothschild’s Waddesdon Manor, in England, that is open to the public. As the designer observed in 2008, “What is nice about a Holiday 1979 house in the country is that it’s the work of a lifetime. Yo u see the evolution of your own life in a way. Yo u never finish.” When de la Renta arrived at Arden, Ben Shaw was a top en- trepreneur and power broker in the New York fashion world. Shaw, who was known as Mr. Seventh Avenue, helped launch the careers of or backed a remarkable array of American designers, including Halston, Norman Norell, Giorgio Sant’Angelo, Stephen Burrows, Donald Brooks and Dominic Rompollo. In the Fifties, he was at the helm of Jane Derby, a designer dress house. Jerry Shaw began working for his father there in 1956. “My father was a pioneer in the designer field,” the younger Shaw said in 1994. “He had, among other attributes, a great ability for spotting and promoting talent. He felt that, at some point, young designers really had to be brought to the front. Their names could be put on labels, but you had to get it past the stores. “We got to the point where business went to a certain level and we couldn’t get it past that, and that’s when Oscar got into the picture. The name became Oscar de la Renta for Jane Derby. A year later, Jane Derby died, and the company was restruc- Spring 1992 tured as Oscar de la Renta.” In 1969, the firm was sold to publicly WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 7 WWD.COM

owned Richton International, then sold back to Shaw and de la Spring 2015 Renta. After Ben Shaw retired about a year later, Jerry Shaw and de la Renta became equal partners. In the late Eighties, the deal was restructured, giving de la Renta a controlling interest. One of the breakthrough moments for de la Renta, and in- deed for American fashion, came in 1973. It was supposed to be a friendly, festive evening between two groups, one of American and the other of French designers, but “An Evening at Versailles,” a fashion extravaganza held to raise funds to refurbish the royal chateau, turned into a bit of a competition. Five French designers — Hubert de Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, Emanuel Ungaro, Andre Oliver (then at Cardin) and Marc Bohan (then at Christian Dior) — had picked the five U.S. designers: de la Renta, Halston, Anne Klein, Blass and Burrows. The Americans stole the show with their jazzy, upbeat presentation, staged by Kay Thompson. WWD called it an “American triumph,” and it did much to raise these designers’ profiles on an international stage. Doing business could be a pleasure, too. “We had a lot of fun over the years,” Shaw recalled. “I remember a show we did in Japan sometime in the late Seventies or early Eighties. It was a big, extravagant stage show and they spelled out Oscar de la Renta on these moving glass panels. I was amazed how they did it, so I went backstage and there was this old Japanese man spinning them on rods. It worked perfectly. Today, it would all be computerized and it wouldn’t work.” According to Shaw, it was Gordon Franklin, president of Saks Fifth Avenue, and Adam Gimbel, who was chairman, who started putting names on the labels, including those of de la Renta, Blass, Donald Brooks and Anne Klein. At the time, only the names of the manufacturers, such as Ben Zuckerman, or department-store private-label monikers, like Saks’ Sophie — named for Sophie Gimbel, Adam’s wife — appeared on the label. Shaw also called the Oscar de la Renta Boutique line, opened in 1967, the first secondary ready-to-wear line for a Seventh Avenue designer. After Shaw retired, Jeffry Aronsson, an attorney who had served as general counsel for the company, became the firm’s president and ceo. During his tenure, Aronsson revamped the firm’s licensing, helping build the business in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America and overseeing the introduction of bridal, intimates and furniture lines. To complement the signature line, the firm launched Oscar de la Renta Accessories for fall 2001. Cosmetics cases, scarves, eyewear, jewelry, furs, lingerie and sleepwear were also avail- able. For men, de la Renta-licensed products included hosiery,

RIGHT sports coats, suits and trousers. In South and Central America B and Mexico, there was a sportswear line for men and boys

JOHN and Oscar Jeans for men and women. In fall 2004, de la Renta

BY launched O Oscar, a moderate women’s sportswear line, which

1979 was later discontinued. Most recently, bags, shoes and sunglass- es have been added to the mix of his main collection. In 2002,

OLIDAY Oscar de la Renta Home inaugurated a furniture collection and H home fragrance collection. Wallpaper, fabrics, tabletop pieces, EE; S bedding and rugs have followed. HIN C De la Renta’s ﬁrst fragrance, Oscar, was launched in 1977 — which set a high watermark. It was one of the leading early EORGE G

American designer scents, along with those of Norell and Blass. With its white ﬂoral formula that featured a tuberose top note, it became a classic and ranked number one in sales through the 1990 BY then-thriving network of American specialty stores. The scent won an industry FiFi award in 1978. Michael Stern, who then was president of Parfums Stern, de la Renta’s fragrance licens-

IANNONI; FALL ee, recalls how the designer was “very much a part of the suc- G cess” of the fragrance. “Oscar worked his tail off,” Stern noted, remembering watching de la Renta command the retail ﬂoor IOVANNI G when he was doing store appearances to promote the fragrance. In those days, winning over the beauty advisers was key, and de la Renta had a talent for making connections at every level. “He liked to associate with the sales people as well as the customers. He was one of a kind. He had the ability to mix with the upper crust, but he never lost his touch with the working

ALMAIN SPRING 2000 BY person,” Stern said. B

E; The Oscar fragrance business was created in partnership

SS with Milton Stern, Michael’s legendary father, who mastermind- LAI C ed its conception. The company later was sold to Avon Products Inc., then subsequently passed along to El-Sanoﬁ SA, YSL LIVIER O

Beauté, then finally L’Oréal. By 2009, when de la Renta won a court fight with L’Oréal and reclaimed his license, the number of fragrances in the Oscar franchise had grown to 15 and cumu- lative sales peaked at an estimated $110 million, according to industry sources. But none of the subsequent scents rivaled the Holiday 1979 SPRING 1992 BY original Oscar fragrance. Fearing that mass-market distribution of the fragrances was eroding the image of de la Renta’s fashion businesses, the de- ANNACCONE; I signer and his chief executive officer, Alex Bolen, moved bold- S ly to clean up the business. They took the business in-house HOMA

T (selling a 20 percent stake in the fashion ﬁrm to GF Capital

Management to help do so) and then launched new products, beginning with Esprit d’Oscar eau de parfum, a modern inter- 2011 BY pretation of the original Oscar. It was followed by a new women’s brand, Live in Love; then an Essential Luxuries collection of limited-edition scents, and ﬁnally a wedding-oriented

IANNONI; FALL Something Blue. Every step of the way, de la Renta was inti- G mately involved. FOR MORE FASHION After more than three years of working to restore the fra- IOVANNI G FROM OSCAR, SEE grance brand’s luster, the design house signed a licensing pact a year ago with Inter Parfums USA LLC, a subsidiary of Inter WWD.com/ Parfums Inc. fashion-news. In a speech at the WWD/DNR CEO Summit in June 2001, de

2015 PHOTO BY la Renta recalled his days in the City of Light as a young man. “I remember all the big stores, the American stores and American

SPRING {Continued on page 8}

w22a004(5-9)a;16.indd 4 10/21/14 9:35 PM 10212014213757 8 WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

{Continued from page 7} manufacturers, used to come to Paris and they would come to the collec- Holiday 1979 Spring 1992 tion,” he said. “They were able to see the collections and buy some of the clothes. I remember Norman Norell coming to Balenciaga and buying clothes and then making them for the American market with the signature of Norman Norell.” The turning point for him: getting his own signature collection. He also noted the retail breakthrough at Saks. “I remember back in 1966 when I was summoned together with Bill Blass, Donald Brooks, Geoffrey Beene and Pauline Trigère to Adam Gimbel’s office at Saks Fifth Avenue,” de la Renta said. “Mr. Gimbel wanted to announce very, very important news to us: The news was the store was no longer going to remove our label and would carry [that of] the designers.” De la Renta’s affinity for women — and for the feminine — seemed to come naturally, since the designer was the sixth of seven children and the only boy. His matriarchal clan included a formidable mother, who, as he noted, “Was a central figure in my life, much more so than my father,” and an even more formidable grandmother. She was a stylish woman whom he described as always wearing stark, floor-length white cotton dresses, each with a flounce at the hem, along with her trademark cameo and diamond earrings. When she was young, his grandmother had married a consider- ably older widower with eight children — de la Renta’s grandfather — and then went on to have eight of her own. When she was 35, her husband died. As de la Renta said in 1967, “I wanted to study painting, but my father did not recognize that as a profession. Yo u see, there had been many doc- tors, lawyers and diplomats in my family. “My mother was sympathetic to my wishes, though, and she helped me go to Spain when I was 17. I stayed there for 10 years, and while I was there, my mother died. My father [who was in insurance] was still not too pleased about my intended career, but then I got into designing clothes by accident. “One day, a friend came by on her way to the dressmaker. She said she didn’t know what to do about a certain dress, and I sketched out a few ideas for her. Later, she was wearing the dress and Ambassador Lodge’s wife saw it. Mrs. Lodge introduced me to Balenciaga. He agreed to train me, and that’s how it all began. I later went to Paris for a time, and then came here [New York].” Soon he had become famous; his father, as he put it, “doesn’t mind now [about my career].” In the Sixties, de la Renta designed such looks as a windowpane plaid cape over a matching suit and a tunic over short shorts, both strewn with flowers; jumper jumpsuits, and long, full skirts for evening. A shirtdress with a matching cardigan was one of his Seventies formulas for evening. Rich gypsy looks were among his signatures, appearing throughout the years, along with flamenco dresses, peasant scarves, spangles and ruffles, ruffles and more ruffles. The flounces might turn up in layers on a tiered skirt, at the hem of a dress, at the top of a one-shoulder gown or in piles of satin- faced organza, gauze or gazar. In the late Seventies, patterned, yoked and tiered evening skirts — sometimes in wool challis, worn with jackets of fabrics in contrasting patterns — were the order of the day, along with the likes of an allover lace Lillie Langtry dress, its slinky shape following the body. Tailored suits were long one of de la Renta’s trademarks, and in the Eighties they might turn up in opulent brocades trimmed in fur. In the Nineties, his evening dresses and separates became more streamlined, Spring 1994 Spring 1989 but more colorful and jewelled. De la Renta dressed Reagan in the Eighties and outfitted Clinton in a gold lace gown for the second Clinton inaugural in 1997, for appearances as Sen. Clinton and for her daughter Chelsea’s wedding in 2010. De la Renta also created Bush’s silver evening dress for her husband’s second inauguration in 2005. “Oscar and I talked about what to do for the inauguration. The white suit was perfect. It just looked like the snow that was covering the mall that day. It was so perfect,” Bush recalled in a video made as part of an exhibition of de la Renta’s clothes at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. Many attempts have been made over the years to decipher de la Renta’s appeal to women. A W magazine article, for instance, from December 1984, titled “Heavenly Harem: Oscar de l’Amour,” somewhat heatedly anatomizes it: “‘Hello, my sweet,’” a voice croons through the telephone. ‘When do we dine, my beloved? My car will be at your house ONE at 7:30.’ Oscar de la Renta smiles with comfortable intimacy, slipping CC ANNA I down into his chaise, and looks off dreamily, imagining the eager feminine face on the other end of the phone. He has just made a dinner date, S OMA

and yet another woman in the world is ecstatic. TH “When he is with her, he will ﬁx on her, and her alone....He will tease her, perhaps a bit too relentlessly, then coax and cajole her to good humor again. They will discuss menus, ﬂowers; he will pause to nip a RING 1994 BY

wilted bloom from a plant. Although he is one of the canniest, most efﬁ- P cient maîtres de maison, he will convince her tenderly that he needs her EE; S S

advice and supervision, leaving her delirious, for this, after all, is one of IN the things women want most from a man.” Women such as Grace Dudley, H Marie-Helene de Rothschild, Mica Ertegun, Casey Ribicoff, Evangeline EORGE C

Bruce, Helen Rochas, Nancy Kissinger and Nati Abascal found him G

“handsome, sexy, but most of all a good, caring friend.” For all his charm and beautiful manners — not to mention his dancing and singing skills plus his abilities at everything from miniature golf, as Cornelia RING 1989 BY

Guest recalled, to cards, at which Lady Annabel Astor said he was “a demon” P

— de la Renta was no pushover. He engaged in some notable ﬁghts in his E; S time. He tangled with Calvin Klein in 1979, when both men went to Japan at SS

the same time and got into a squabble about models. “If one of my girls came CLAI out in a dress that was a broom and one of his girls came out dressed in gold, LIVIER O my girl would make mincemeat out of his girl,” de la Renta said. In 1991, de la Renta unintentionally alienated Lagerfeld when he attended a Chanel show that had a racy bondage theme, and at lunch af- terwards, as someone informed Lagerfeld, said that such a motif would RING 1992 BY P

never ﬂy in New York. It took years for the two designers to make up. S FOR MORE FASHION T;

Then there was the disagreement with his longtime client and friend H FROM OSCAR, SEE RIG

Reagan, who, de la Renta said, became angry when he began designing B

for Clinton. “I mean, she was really very, very nice to me, but I was re- H WWD.com/ fashion-news. ally very, very nice to her,” he noted. “I vote for the people I like; I don’t JO vote for parties. I voted for President Reagan, but I voted for President OTO BY

Clinton. I think that, regardless of your political inclination, if the First H Lady of your country asks you to do something, you don’t say no.”

De la Renta went on to become great friends with the Clintons, with 1979 P whom he shared a passion for cards, which they would play at Punta

Cana when the Clintons stayed with him. “I like them a lot,” he said. HOLIDAY

w22a004(5-9)a;15.indd 5 10/21/14 9:32 PM 10212014213414 WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 9 WWD.COM

“First of all, he is so bright, and second, he is just so unbelievably warm. Fall 1988 He just sort of engulfs you.” In January 2011, the outspoken de la Renta criticized First Lady Michelle Obama for wearing Sarah Burton’s red and black dress for Alexander McQueen to a White House state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao. He felt that she should have worn something by an American designer. “This is an important issue,” de la Renta said. “Do you think Kate Middleton is going to be married in Marc Jacobs? Mrs. Obama does look great. She should take that and do something. She could do a great good for our industry. We need to create jobs here, create jobs on Seventh Avenue, too.” (Obama eventually would make amends, wearing a de la Renta dress to a party at the White House earlier this month for more than 300 fashion insiders.) In September 2012, de la Renta skirmished with Cathy Horyn, then fashion critic for The New York Times, taking exception to her refer- ring to him in an article as a “hot dog.” He wrote an open letter to her that was published as an advertisement in WWD, which contained the memorable line, “If you have the right to call me a hot dog, why do I not have the right to call you a stale 3-day old hamburger?” But before long, the two made up. In January 2013, de la Renta would further stir controversy when he appointed fallen Dior couturier John Galliano to a temporary residence in his design studio. The collaboration — evident in de la Renta’s fall 2013 collection — stirred an outcry, given Galliano’s anti-Semitic state- ments. But, as de la Renta put it, “Everyone in life deserves a second chance, especially someone as talented as John. I think that life is about forgiving and helping people.” For his part, Galliano said, “I am grateful to Oscar beyond words for inviting me to spend time with him in the familiar surroundings of a design studio.” He and his ﬁrm’s ceo, his son-in-law Bolen, would hold discussions with Galliano about the British designer joining the House of de la Renta on a permanent basis. But those talks broke down earlier this year over Galliano’s demands. Instead, de la Renta recently appointed Peter Copping as creative director, luring him from his successful stint at Nina Ricci. “After a career of 20 years in Paris, this is an important next step for me,” Copping said. “Oscar de la Renta has deﬁned elegance for generations of American women.” In 1967, de la Renta had become the third husband of Françoise de Langlade, an editor in chief of French Vogue. Born in Bordeaux and raised between Paris and Martinique, she worked for Elsa Schiaparelli and Harper’s Bazaar before joining French Vogue. After she married the designer, de Langlade became a consultant to Elizabeth Arden and opened a decorating business; among her clients were fashion executive Marina Schiano and actors Helmut Berger and Florinda Bolkan. De Langlade’s previous husbands included French businessman Jean Bruère, by whom she had one son, Jean Marc Bruère, and diplomat Nicholas Bagenow. She died of cancer in 1983. In 1989, de la Renta married Anne France Engelhard, known as Annette, the former wife of New York banker Samuel Pryor Reed and the step- daughter of American minerals tycoon Charles W. Engelhard Jr. The story of how the philanthropist became his second wife is a classic Oscar tale. As WWD’s executive editor Bridget Foley wrote in a W article in November 2001, the two had been together for awhile, but Reed was reluctant to tie the knot. De la Renta, however, thought that, since they were living together, they ought to get hitched. He “engaged in covert plans for a Christmas wedding, stealing away to the records bureau in the Dominican Republic with Annette’s passport and papers. He invited her mother and sisters, but given the holidays and Annette’s December 24 birthday, no one grew suspi- cious.” The Erteguns and the Kissingers were among the guests. “The night before we were married we had dinner, and after dinner I stood up and made a toast: ‘I want you all to know that tomorrow morning, Annette and I will be married.’ Annette gasped. Her mother went to her room for salts. “Annette told Henry Kissinger that she didn’t want to get married. According to de la Renta, the savvy diplomat then advised her to say no, but to make sure she meant it. He said to her, ‘Now, let me tell you, Oscar is Latino and very proud. He is going to ask you to make a public statement, and, if you don’t marry him, he will leave you,’” de la Renta says. EE

S “So I knew she was going to marry me.” IN

H In addition to his wife, de la Renta is survived by his three stepchil- dren Beatrice Reed, Charlie Reed and Eliza Bolen; his son Moises de la

EORGE C Renta; three sisters, all of whom reside in the Dominican Republic, and G nine grandchildren. De la Renta received the Council of Fashion Designers of America

1993 BY Women’s Wear Designer of the Year Award in 2000. In February 1990, he was honored with the CFDA Lifetime E; FALL Achievement Award. From 1973 to 1976, and from 1986 to 1988, Oscar de SS la Renta was president of the CFDA. He won the Coty American Fashion CLAI Critics’ Award twice and made it into the Coty Hall of Fame in 1973. In June 2013, he was given the CFDA Founders Award, which was LIVIER O presented to him by Hillary Rodham Clinton. In his gracious accep- tance speech, de la Renta said that he still had lots of design ideas and, while honored, didn’t want an honorary award — he wanted to win the

RING 1991 BY Women’s Wear Designer of the Year Award. P

S From 1993 to 2002, de la Renta designed the couture collection for the T; H house of Pierre Balmain, becoming the ﬁrst American of that era to de- RIG B

sign for a French couture house. He was awarded the Legion d’Honneur N H as a Commandeur. The Dominican Republic also honored him with the JO order al Mérito de Juan Pablo Duarte and the order of Cristóbal Colón. In 1996, de la Renta received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the

1979 BY Hispanic Heritage Society, and in 2000 he was the grand marshal of New York City’s Hispanic Day Parade. That same year, de la Renta received the EE; FALL

S Gold Medal of Bellas Artes from the King of Spain. De la Renta helped to IN

H build a school and day-care center in the Dominican Republic for 1,200 children, from which he adopted his son Moises de la Renta. Another of his projects there was the luxurious Punta Cana resort. EORGE C G He was long a patron of the arts. He served as a board member of The Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall and Channel Thirteen/WNET. He also OTO BY

H served on the boards of New Yorkers for Children, the Americas Society, P and was chairman of the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute. Fall 1993 Spring 1991 Fall 1979 1988 — WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM

FALL ARTHUR FRIEDMAN, BRIDGET FOLEY AND PETE BORN

w22a004(5-9)a;15.indd 6 10/21/14 9:32 PM 10212014213503 10 WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

“I always design my own hats to complete my fashion thought....I like them slightly mad, like this huge black poppy. Right now I lift the bosom high on coats and dresses...I am using so many high curved belts.” — Oscar de la Renta on his ﬁrst New York collection Oscar, for Elizabeth Arden’s Fashion-Able custom department, WWD, 2/25/63

“When she jumps off a yacht, it’s the biggest one in the French Riviera.” — on his customer, WWD, 6/7/67 In His “Women are born free, and I think that they should stay that way.” — in WWD, 11/7/67

“Movies and gin rummy are our favorite ways to spend free time. Own We’re not much for sports.” — on his life with his ﬁrst wife, Françoise de Langlade, WWD, 2/2/68

“He has inspired many of my fall fabrics. What impresses me the Words most is how contemporary his color combinations are. Many of the paintings could easily be transferred into prints for fabrics.” OSCAR DE LA RENTA WAS KNOWN FOR HIS — on Gustav Klimt, WWD, 5/7/69 SOPHISTICATION AND WIT, AS THESE QUOTES THROUGH THE DECADES ILLUSTRATE. “When the president of the Republic invites us to the Elysee, we cancel our other plans.” — in WWD, 9/29/69

“People tend to talk more about my life with my wife than about my work.” — in WWD, 9/24/71

“At dinner, Françoise has no qualms about raving about the cooking in her own home. Oscar is often the chef — his specialties ranging from rice fried in whiskey to ham mousse and watermelon sherbet served in a fresh pineapple.” — WWD, 9/24/71

“The shirtdress with matching cardigan is the only way a woman should dress for fall evenings. It’s casual, but elegant. It makes a statement, but is not terribly dressy. And it is very sensual.” — in WWD, 4/26/72

“Nothing is contrived. At night, the clothes should pour like liquid over the body.” — in W, 11/21/75

“Let me just say I can’t stand that famous smile. I can’t stand it. There’s something about it — I don’t know — like a snake’s smile.” — on Jimmy Carter, WWD, 10/29/76

“People have been wearing blazers at night, but they’re beginning to change. Last night, I went to a dinner party and six or eight women were wearing taffeta skirts with cinched waistlines. It’s far more amusing and, yes, glamorous.” — in The New York Times, 11/30/76

“A full taffeta skirt is for any woman who is romantic and well- proportioned. What I love best about taffeta is the sound of rustling — it’s so voluptuous and feminine.” — on his taffeta Fantasy dresses, WWD, 10/30/76

“The clothes he’ll show Monday evoke for him the simplicity of a fresh rose coupled with exotic scents from the Orient. ‘My perfume will be made from rose and ylang-ylang, so why shouldn’t my dresses be in the same feeling?’” he asks. — in WWD, 4/27/77

“A 19th-century retreat from the demanding life outside.” — on his Manhattan FOR MORE QUOTES apartment, WWD, 4/3/79 FROM OSCAR, SEE “I think there’s something wonderful WWD.com/ about standing in a new town in the fashion-news. middle of the street. Sometimes I fantasize about the caravan, being a Oscar de la Renta, 1968. sort of nomad.” — in WWD, 4/3/79 WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 11 WWD.COM

“I love to live well, I love to eat well, “I came to this country when I love to buy beautiful things, and to women had a very different role give a fantastic time to my friends.” than they have today. I remember — in W, 4/13/79 when a woman walked into the restaurant in pants and she was “When I’m very, very nervous, not allowed in. I have been a I sing.” — in W, 4/13/79 witness to so much.” — in WWD, 5/31/13 “The ultimate of a well-dressed man is not to look well-dressed. I “‘Fifty years I have been think men shouldn’t be noticed.” doing this and I think I started — in W, 4/13/79 yesterday…to come to work every day is a huge, big privilege. “Obviously my success gave me And I may be totally wrong, an assurance I wasn’t born with. but I think I am a much better I’ve had a stuttering problem all designer today. Because I have a my life and I’m still painfully shy much better understanding of on the telephone. If I think the my consumer today than I had, person knows who I am, I’m fine. say, 40 years ago.’ And because But if they don’t, I’m very, very he’s not willing to cede an iota shy. It’s a contradiction, but if to younger generations of you’re shy, you dare more. You try designers — a fact that keeps harder to overcome your shyness.” the de la Renta brand as relevant — in W, 4/13/79 now as ever. ‘The day I say, “I know it all,” I should stop,’ “Listen, they are fabulous. But Oscar says. ‘I think that one of then they have so many people for the most important qualities in each project. There were crews of a human being is curiosity. 80 or 100 people ready to carry And competitiveness is part of out whatever I told them.” that curiosity.’” — on the efficiency of the — in WWD, 5/31/13 Japanese, WWD, 9/24/79 “I am not a loner. I like to be “Every member of the CFDA has surrounded by people. I like been asked to participate. Where to be contradicted. I like to be was Halston when it was time challenged on a daily basis. I like to work? Why didn’t he offer to to say that the day I say, ‘I have help? He doesn’t show up for the learned it all’ is the day that I meeting, but he criticizes us. This should stop.” is tough to take, believe me.” — in WWD, 6/10/13 — on clashing egos at the CFDA, WWD, 7/27/81 “At that time, the designer was the little guy in the back room. “Don’t I look better than all I have to give the credit to John Mercedes Bass with Oscar the others?” — at his 53rd birthday Fairchild. He is the one who and Annette de la Renta at the party, WWD, 07/24/85 (He did.) said, ‘I’m not interested in the American Academy in Rome’s manufacturer. I want to know who 2008 awards at Cipriani. “This customer — the working the guy is who makes that dress.’” woman with so many lifestyle needs — on his start in the U.S., — is the most important costumer WWD, 6/10/13 out there today. She’s a new woman, and until now I’ve been “They thought they were going paying very little attention to her.” to make mincemeat pie out — on adding a bridge collection of us, and in fact they almost to his lineup, WWD, 1/10/96 did. But I have to tell you the show was wonderful. We were “You need a young eye. Right now, so unbelievably unprepared. MORRISON why I love my work every day is The French went first, and you because it’s a learning process for can imagine. Pierre Cardin HARRY me, working with people who are had a Sputnik, and Yves Saint BY looking at clothes in a different Laurent had a white Cadillac De la Renta in his office with staffers HOME manner than I do. Otherwise, you convertible…” Jeffry Aronsson, Alexandra Hamilton, IN always go the path you know.” — recalling the 1973 international John Nickleson, Eliza Reed Bolen, Sarah Jessica Parker, de la Renta, Barbara Walters and — in W, 10/01 fashion showdown at Versailles,

Austyn Zung and Adam Lippes in 2001. Bette Midler at Fashion’s Night Out in 2009. TURNER; in WWD, 6/10/13 “Let’s make it very clear that DAVID certainly our company is not “Love. Be curious. Always try to De la Renta De la Renta BY for sale. I mean, ﬁve years do your best.” with his being ago, before Alex [Bolen, his — on words to live by, late wife,

interviewed STAFFERS son-in-law] came into the mix, WWD, 6/10/13 Françoise de in his New if somebody were to come up Langlade. York home and say, ‘We’d like to buy the “For a long time, I have always in 1968. EICHNER; company, we’d like to buy the worried about what will happen name,’ probably I would say, to the brand when I am no STEVE

BY ‘Gee, I’m not going to live forever, longer here, so I plan to be here perhaps this is something I for a very, very long time. But

BOLEN envision doing,’ but now I look at having my family involved in the it in a different way.’” business, now I know there is — in WWD in July, 2008, quoted in continuity. To be clear, my only New York Magazine, 7/7/08 fear that I have every morning is, IANNACCONE; ‘When are they going to ﬁre me?’” “For me, luxury never left.” — in WWD, 6/10/13

THOMAS — in WWD, 4/21/10 BY “I strongly feel, regardless of “If you have the right to call me a hot what he did, that everyone in life PARKER dog, why do I not have the right to call does deserve a second chance, you a stale 3-day-old hamburger?” and I am happy that I was able

CELESTE; — ad penned by de la Renta to give John [Galliano] a second and addressed to Cathy Horyn chance.…It would be a shame JIMI

BY in WWD, 10/17/12 if the industry was deprived of such a talent.” BASS “When I started in fashion, I — in WWD, 6/10/13 became well-known because I

TRAINA; started to sell my clothes to the “Our industry has not always

SAL stores and people were buying the done the best job when it comes BY clothes and then it got the attention to changes in design leadership. of [the press] and Women’s Wear My hope is that, in leading PHOTO Daily. Today, there are a lot of this selection, and actively

1968 designers who are famous before participating in the transition, I they have sold one single dress. I can ensure the right design future

RENTA think that that’s wrong.” for our company and brand.” LA — in WWD, 5/31/13 — in WWD, 10/13/14 DE 12 WWD WEDNESDAY,Mr. OCTOBER 22, 2014 Charm

Fashion insiders and friends of Oscar de la Renta on Tuesday reﬂected on his magnetic personality and leading role for more than ﬁve decades in American fashion.

in the history of American fashion, both Karl Lagerfeld: I knew Oscar better later of people. He was a great person Oscar, John B. Fairchild: “Mr. Charm. He was full for his workmanship and talent, as well when he was in New York than in his and also so generous helping everyone of kindness, which led to very successful as his creativity and class.” Paris days with Balmain. He was very and with his time. It’s easy to help with fashions. He never stopped working and handsome, with a perfect Latin-lover charities by giving money away but he was always around to help everybody. I Sarah Jessica Parker: “Knowing that sadly, look. In this business, very few have also helped with his time. first met him when he was still at Lanvin none of us will have more time with the the charisma and the class of Oscar. “Every time we went to Punta Cana, he picking up pins in Paris and his charm beloved and resplendent Oscar de la Renta, That was also a reason why he was would have the trio there and everyone was every place. He was a great fighter only enhances my exuberant appreciation liked and loved by everybody. He will wound up singing. Sometimes he sang up to the very end because he loved life of the time he gave, the talent he shared be missed, but I think with the new with Julio Iglesias and sometimes he sang and loved people so much.” and the friendship he allowed.” designer [Peter Copping], the house of alone. He was a real friend, a very loyal de la Renta is in the right hands. This friend and Annette and Oscar were a First Lady Michelle Obama: “Oscar de la Giorgio Armani: “I have always had great makes me very sad. The last time I had great couple. Oscar helped a lot of people Renta was a pioneer and a visionary respect and admiration for Oscar de la dinner with him and Annette at the and he treated people the same way. He who helped generations of women Renta, a man who proved that you can MoMA we had so much fun that Anna played dominoes every afternoon with embrace their most beautiful, confident become a protagonist in the history of told us we were too noisy. So my last his staff in Punta Cana for instance. He selves. My thoughts and prayers are a country through fashion. Because he memory is a happy one.” treated everyone equally, perfectly the FALK; EVAN with his family.” dressed with elegance and perfect sense same and that’s a charming way to do of the occasion all the First Ladies, from Patrick McCarthy: “Once I asked Oscar things. We never saw each other like Laura Bush: “Oscar is the loveliest man. Jacqueline Kennedy to Hillary Clinton, what he thought each of his parents that [as competitors.] We were really He really likes women and I think that confirming his special touch for evening had contributed to his upbringing. His close friends and on top of that we never shows in the clothes that he makes for gowns, which mitigated the observance father, an insurance man I think, gave discussed any business together. It was women. Oscar and I talked about what to of the institutions with a sophisticated him the ability to ‘talk to everyone.’ another relationship and that was fun. do for the inauguration. The white suit accent of seduction.” And, of course, he did ‹ talk to everyone. Everything he did, he did well. He played BY STEVE EICHNER; PARKER was perfect. It just looked like the snow Whether it was an intern at WWD, or tennis fantastically, and bridge, everything that was covering the mall that day. It Anna Wintour: “There is much being said Diana Vreeland, they both walked away he tried to do, he did it in the best way.” ERIN WEISS was so perfect. Oscar made a beautiful that his passing yesterday marks the from an encounter with Oscar with the sparkling dress that I wore to the Polish end of an era. Not true. He was the most feeling that she was the most important Etta Froio: “Oscar de la Renta had it all, state dinner and then I sent a photograph democratic man I knew and he would person in the world. fame, talent, good looks, charm, social of George and me standing on the front have lived happily and defined any era. His mother, Oscar said, was more status, a thriving business, a loving family porch of the White House and said, He was happy dining with the rich and savvy. She imparted an ability to judge and a delightfully wicked sense of humor. ‘Thanks for a sparkling evening.’ Yo u can famous, for sure, but equally happy a situation both on its merits and its He also had many very commendable wear Oscar’s clothes over and over, and playing dominoes with his devoted staff. meaning. ‘My mother was shrewd,’ is attributes. Oscar was a loyal, caring I have. He made this beautiful gray suit His designs reflected his extraordinary how I remember he put it. friend. He was generous, kind, loving and for me to wear to Japan on the first trip personality: optimistic, fun, sunny, And Oscar was equally parts charm delightful to be with. He was a treasure I that George and I took after George was romantic. At dinner this summer — just and smart. There is no other way to will sorely miss.” JENNA GREENE; HILFIGER AND LAUREN BY

President. Then that is the very same the two of us — he told fascinating stories explain how he went from second- BY AND WALTERS BUSH, MCCARTHY, TONY PALMIERI; cashmere suit and coat that I wore to the about his life in Paris and later working string at Balenciaga’s Madrid atelier Valentino Garavani: “I have lost not just an Obamas’ inauguration. And it’s not in for Miss Arden who apparently always (ﬁrst-string was Paris) to operating amazing colleague but a dear friend. this show because I didn’t give it to the called Helena Rubinstein ‘that woman.’ in a business that competes with We were born the same year, started archives yet. It’s still in my closet and I The conversation became more serious Marc Jacobs, Nicolas Ghesquière and to work at the same time, and shared VON FURSTENBERG BY plan to wear it again. and he told me he felt he had had the Raf Simons. There were stumbles, the love for beauty and femininity. PHOTO BY FAIRCHILD

Marion Javits, Happy Rockefeller, The designer with Oscar de la Renta and John B. Fairchild. Lauren Bush… …Sarah Jessica Parker… …Patrick McCarthy…

For ﬁve decades, Oscar de la Renta most amazing life and he was not afraid. businesswise and creatively, of course, If sometimes there was competition has made dresses that make women feel This strength must have been with him in but the number of icons Oscar saw on to between us it was like the one of two good and look beautiful.” the hospital last week when he made the the ﬁeld, and then off is staggering. He pilots of the same team, and never as decision to turn off treatment; it was not was cultivated, imposing and generous. opponents. How could one be against Ralph Lauren: “I always loved him. He the quality of life he wanted.… And fun. A lunch, or dinner, with Oscar this sweet, gentle man? When I last saw was a very sweet guy. I was always very “He always said accept your friends was something to be relished, not him in late August in Greece he saved fond of him. We sort of grew up together. for who they are, not for who you want dreaded, as is so often the case in the me when the host asked me to sing. He We spent time over the years talking to them to be. Oscar was everything you fashion business. took the microphone from my hands each other at events and we promised to could want a friend to be. Annette was Oscar never seemed to lose his way, and sang with his perfect voice a couple have dinner together. We never got to do his perfect partner, creating those as so many designers do. There was of Spanish songs! Six weeks ago only... it. As an American designer, he’s one of magical houses and gardens together, always pressure to do this and to do Thank you Oscar to have been a good the greatest. He brought a great deal of giving extraordinary seemingly effortless that, but Oscar was always shrewder friend for so many years. I will miss you.” class to American fashion and the way dinners, and always taking care of each than his friends, or his critics, were. He he handled himself. He had great class, other. She slept on a cot in the hospital started out, and ended, exactly where he Diane von Furstenberg: “Oscar was an great style and he was a gentleman. every night he was there. Theirs was the wanted to be.” extraordinary designer, an artist of life He had a great sense of personal style greatest, most life-enhancing love affair. and beauty and a true Renaissance man. and he knew what was appropriate for Last week in the hospital he said that she Carolina Herrera: “The fashion world is He had an amazing sense of aesthetics President’s wives and the people he never wears the beautiful jewelry he gave going to miss him because he was always and it [resonated] in his clothes, his designed for. He was a very unique man her, and she said simply, ‘I have you.’” there for everyone. And loved by a lot houses, his gardens. He was one of the WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 13 WWD.COM

greatest American designer, with Latin had. To me, Oscar was behind every And although everyone missed Oscar’s roots and European training. He loved to great woman. There’s not a woman’s presence, we were surrounded by his Cornelia Guest: “I have known Oscar all sing and his voice will continue to sing in life that he didn’t touch. He was beyond designs from the decades. It reminded my life. In fact, he knew me before I our hearts forever.” a husband, friend, visionary and me that Oscar always knew how to was born since he was a dear friend of philanthropist. I always saw him as the make women feel modern, chic, and my parents and spent lots of time at our Francisco Costa: “I’m really upset. I started ‘man of fashion,’ sort of like an icon beautiful . It doesn’t get much better house. Not only was he incredibly elegant my career with him and worked there six and president of the Council of Fashion than that.” and charming but he played a mean game years. He taught me a lot. It was always Designers of America.” of miniature golf and taught me as well. very family-like. It’s very tender to think Barbara Walters: “Oscar de la Renta was I will never forget my mother taking me that he left in such a way. We are going Dominican Republic First Lady Candida not just a creative and original artist he to see him for my graduation dress from to miss him. He was a father to me in a Montilla: “With [Oscar] de la Renta’s was also a great business man. He was grade school… It was white pique and the way. He really embraced everyone in the death, the country not only lost a most of all one of the wisest, kindest, prettiest dress I had ever seen. I was so studio, not just me. I’m sorry I didn’t get to brilliant professional, but essentially a and funniest friends you can have. All of excited to finally have ‘An Oscar.’” spend more time with him. He was a man great human being of matchless worth. us who had the pleasure of knowing him, of beauty. He surrounded himself with He left behind a legion of blessings have aching hearts today. Our thoughts Lady Annabel Astor: “Oscar brought beauty; he surrounded himself with the and solidarity which should resonate are with his beloved Annette.” laughter and humor into all our lives. best. I don’t think there’s another person with the sensibility and pride of all A beautiful singer, a divine dancer, a today who understands living, the sort of Dominicans.” Tommy Hilfiger: “He was a true gentleman. demon at cards, and of course a hugely fine line between old and new, in a sense. He was extraordinary, and was not only talented designer at everything he He embraced the sensibility of the old with Michael Kors: “I was at a dinner here in incredibly talented as a designer, but as touched.” the great style of how we live today. New York just a few years back and a humanitarian and as a true gentleman “He lived, full-on. Everything was had the pleasure of sitting with Oscar. with class and taste like no other. He Georgina Brandolini: “He was a gentleman, important to him. The scent, the color, And despite his health issues, he kept was an inspiration to all. a friend: someone you could count on. the way he set a table, the way he stressing to me that he still felt like a “Everyone looked up to Oscar as a Whether it was day or night, he would entertained, the way he greeted people. kid—was still learning, still curious. kingpin of American fashion. I looked up always take your call. He had a great Also his kindness, his charity. With kids, And then he told me that if you rest, you to him. He handled himself so well and sense of humor. I’ve known him all my schools, he always gave back. I also love rust. He led a life full of passion, for was such an incredible gentleman, and life. We used to go on holiday together the fact that he was a fighter. Oscar had the people he loved, for fashion and for at the same time, he had class and taste. in Punta Cana. a fantastic sense of humor. He could be making things beautiful.” “He was inspirational to me as an “When he was at Balmain, the house quite tough. Not mean, but quite twisted. American fashion designer and a legend really moved. I learned a lot from him Which is wonderful to think that he still Donatella Versace: “Oscar de la Renta was in his own time. I think he put a real when he was working in the studio. He had that sense of humor. He could fight American fashion royalty. He will never stamp on American glamour and made it was so attentive to all the details. He was and instigate. He was that kind of man. I be forgotten for his talent and generous authentic and legitimate.” fun to work with and after his fittings we was very pleased to have been part of his heart. He was a true gentleman.” would go to L’Ami Louis or Benoit and world.” Adam Lippes: “I was in my first job at Ralph stuff ourselves. I had a big admiration Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton Lauren in 1995, and after 10 months for Oscar because he did things in a Donna Karan: “When I think of a fashion and Marc Mezvinsky: “We are deeply my boss Electra Preston went to work young way, always simple and chic. designer, I think of Oscar de la Renta. saddened by the passing of our dear for Oscar de la Renta and she told me, “All the American ladies would come He was iconic. Look at the women he friend, Oscar de la Renta. His singular ‘You need to come, too.’ So I went at 22 to Paris for his haute couture. People had around him. He dressed every talent and exquisite taste elevated and I really grew up there in the really loved him. He was so good looking and President’s wife, regardless of being American fashion, and his warmth and classic sense of the word, learning about charming; when people saw him they a Democrat or Republican. It was all friendship will be missed by our family not only design, but also learning about just melted.” about the woman. Oscar was a woman’s and all whose lives he touched in his life from inarguably one of the greatest man. There isn’t any woman who did extraordinary journey. fashion designers of all time. Oscar was Stephen Burrows: “We met in 1973 before not adore Oscar. I think everybody had a Oscar’s remarkable eye was matched a man so full of life, so wanting to learn, we showed at Versailles. We had a cabine crush on him. only by his generous heart. His legacy of so willing to teach and just so, so damn of all different ethnicities. Oscar always “I’d travel on the elevator with him philanthropy extended from children in smart and open. Oscar would never talk had a diverse group of girls. That was because we were in the same building. his home country who now have access to you about fashion, ever. You did not very indicative of Versailles. There were Regardless of his state [of health] he to education and health care, to some of talk about clothes with Oscar. You talked all different shades and colors of girls. It was always so dignified. He was always New York’s finest artists whose creativity about politics, you talked about culture, wasn’t just white models. It was a great coming to work. To him it was life. He has been sustained through his support. you talked about faith. He was just one combination of models which is what was a role model. He ate and drank the We will always be grateful to Oscar of these people who was very, very rare. made up society. That is what Oscar liked. world of fashion, but it wasn’t fashion, for the love he showed us, and for We use the word ‘star’ so often, oh he’s a “He was just a great designer who had it was life. I looked up to him. He was sharing his talent on some of the most star, she’s a star. But there are very few a vision and he stuck to it and that kept ageless and fully experienced and he important occasions of our lives. And stars who really command a room. And him viable for all these years. He simply was naughty. He was this proper guy we will never forget the joy, adventure, he was one of those magical people. We had a love of nature and fashion and

…Diane von Furstenberg… …Tommy Hilﬁger… …Barbara Walters… …and Ralph Lauren.

who was really naughty. He showed and beauty we shared with Oscar, his used to always joke that he should run keeping up with the times. He was really in Europe at the couture. He set the beloved wife, Annette, and their family for president of the Dominican Republic. good at that.” path for so many of us. I can’t think of during our many happy times together, When I told him I wanted to start my own anybody who can fill his shoes.” especially those spent in his beloved brand, he was so supportive. He actually Emanuel Ungaro: “I will always remember She originally met Oscar de la Renta Dominican Republic. We join his family was one of my first investors. He said, his exceptional nature, his quiet when they were showing at the “Battle and many friends and admirers all over ‘Well, you can work here until you get off confidence, his cheerful and brotherly of Versailles” in 1973, and she was the world in mourning his loss, while also the ground.’ And I left in between 2004 smile. We were both students of there for Anne Klein, along with de la celebrating his beautiful and joyous life.” and 2005 but remained so close to him. [Cristóbal] Balenciaga, which made us Renta, Bill Blass, Halston and Stephen No one has had so a big an impact on very close.” Burrows. It was her first introduction Henry Kissinger: “Oscar de la Renta me except my family, not only in what I to the grandeur of fashion “and Oscar brought beauty and elegance to our design but also in who I am. Adolfo Sardiña: “It would take the day was certainly in the lead on that, and society, and to Nancy and me, warmth, It was always about life — eyes open to tell you how much I feel about this. continued to be. friendship and meaning into our lives.” wide. He taught me so much about how Oscar and I met in the early Sixties “He was a mentor and role model, to live my life — open, giving and so and have been friends since. Oscar was and I looked up to Oscar,” she said. The Karen Katz: “I was recently at an Oscar full of life. We would travel a lot doing born in the Santo Domingo and I came second time she met de la Renta they de la Renta retrospective at the Bush charity fashion shows and other events. from Cuba so always we spoke with both appeared together on the Barbara Presidential library here in Dallas I would be exhausted and he would say, each other in Spanish. We were always Walters show, and “it was the funniest where an intimate dinner was hosted ‘You can sleep when you die.’ And that’s very good friends and in the midst of all and most frightening experience I ever by President and Mrs. George W. Bush. how he lived.” {Continued on page 14} 14 WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 WWD.COM ERIC WEISS STEVE EICHNER; ARMANI BY BY

De la Renta with Donna Karan… …Giorgio Armani… …Francisco Costa… …and Hillary Clinton. AND CLINTON PHOTOS COSTA KARAN,

respected each other. He had incredible Avenue. When I was growing up my taste and style, he always made women mother and all her friends always wore look beautiful. He is a friend who will be his clothes at the country clubs. The greatly missed.” past 40 years, you always saw people on the streets, at charity events, at dinners Elizabeth Saltzman: “The lights went dim — everybody wore his clothes. They Mr. Charm on elegance today....Oscar was the most were very wearable and very beautiful {Continued from page 13} only in America. He is one of the great glorious man with a smile that melted and elegant.” this, Bill Blass came to be a friend of brands that was built in America. Oscar you and talent that inspired you moment ours, too. We would just get together for de la Renta gave us a specific way of after moment. No hype. All talent and Fern Mallis: “I remember asking him friendly conversation and to be together. dressing and was certainly a point of class. A talent that was filled with love before [our 92Y talk last year], if I This is a great loss. Needless to say as a reference for ladies. of life and color. I always thought Oscar could ask him about his health and designer, I think he was tops. He made “On another side, he was a great was the true definition of elegance. He his cancer.…He said yes he’d like to the most beautiful evening clothes I expert of fabric. He was so good at will be sorely missed but so happily address that. I was impressed with his must say. They were so elegant and so selecting great fabrics and trying new remembered.” extraordinary memory and recall of timeless. Believe me this is going to be things. So we will miss him because of just about everything in his life and a loss. The way he made clothes, no one what he represented, not only to the Sheila McKain-Waid: “Oscar stands out career. He also was much funnier than else is doing it like that.” customers, but also to the suppliers, as the gentleman of fashion design, a I remember him being. Of course he after all, we are always a textile visionary creator whose love of pure seduced and charmed everyone in the Alain Hivelin: “I first met Oscar in the late business. Oscar de la Renta is always creation and innate good taste led to auditorium...including me. Seventies when he was developing his someone we have appreciated because the most magical pieces. Working with first perfume. I was chosen to produce all of his knowledge of quality fabrics. him was an honour and a pleasure, Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece: “He the packaging, marketing materials and It wasn’t just an image, quality was he will be much missed but fondly made the most beautiful dresses for the like, and during that project, I could something intimate and deep in his remembered.” women, I always felt special in an appreciate the search for perfection that products.” Oscar dress.…He had that magic. I was Oscar applied to everything he touched. I Peggy Siegal: “He was the most elegant truly lucky to have been dressed by loved working with him, so when I joined Giambattista Valli: “I was extremely sad and the most beloved on Seventh Oscar. I will miss him.” the house of Balmain in 1995 as general to hear this, because if there are true manager, I did not hesitate to choose him gentlemen of the fashion world, they are as our couturier because Oscar had all the Oscar de la Renta, Hubert de Givenchy qualities, the technical ability, the heart. and Valentino. There is such an elegance What a gentleman. His attitude was always in every expression and gesture. so elegant, not only outside. He was so “I was so lucky to meet him several noble in his head, noble in his heart. times and I hope I can support this same “Oscar didn’t design collections: kind of gentlemanly attitude toward Every dress he created was with a women. I hope to see more and more Oscar customer in mind, and Balmain blew de la Rentas, not just the same in the way A Farewell Note up. We were one of the few couture of talent, but also in the human way. houses that actually made money. The “I was extremely sad because it’s ALEX AND ELIZA BOLEN SENT THE FOLLOWING customers of Oscar were not customers: a loss of beauty. When I dressed Amal LETTER TO THE STAFF OF OSCAR DE LA RENTA, They were ladies of high society that for her wedding and she told me Oscar WHICH SERVES AS THEIR COMPANY STATEMENT: he knew. Somehow, every one of his was doing her wedding dress, I said to customers was his inspiration. We went her, ‘I am Giambattista Valli, and if I October 21st, 2014 around the world with Oscar, taking was born as a woman, I would ask him Balmain to Russia, to China, to Miami. to do my wedding dress.’ He was the Colleagues — I treasure those memories. I’m very sad uniqueness of the unique. He brings Oscar has left us.” to mind for me the aristocracy of this We write to let you know that Oscar passed away last night Hivelin noted that the collaboration profession.” at home in Connecticut surrounded by family, friends and ended not long after the terrorist attacks more than a few dogs. of 2001, and after de la Renta underwent Nino Cerruti: “An incredible gentleman, a He died exactly as he lived: with tremendous grace, great back surgery “and he didn’t want to great artist, a man who used fashion to dignity and very much on his own terms. travel so much.” glorify beauty and elegance. He was also De la Renta’s final couture show a man with a big heart who leaves us While our hearts are broken by the idea of life without at Balmain was in July 2002, ending a with such classy memories.” Oscar, he is still very much with us. fruitful, 10-year collaboration. Balmain Oscar’s hard work, his intelligence and his love of life sold only about 30 dresses a season Lela Rose: “One of his gifts to American are at the heart of our company. All that we have done, and before de la Renta’s arrival. When he fashion was his unfailing elegance and all that we will do is informed by his values and his spirit. left, as many as 300 outfits were being graciousness. His generous spirit and Through Oscar’s example, we know the way forward. We sold, according to the house. decency have long been an inspiration for how I want to conduct myself as a will make Oscar very proud of us by continuing in an even Graydon Carter: “I knew Oscar more as designer.” stronger way the work that Oscar loved so much. a neighbor up in Connecticut than We are working on the formal arrangements to celebrate as the name on beautiful dresses. He Bethann Hardison: “Oscar had an eye for Oscar’s life. As those plans are finalized, we will let you was a generous host and an even more fashion and he appreciated beauty in know. generous guest. Those gentlemanly all kinds of ways. I don’t think there In the meantime, thank you for your friendship, loyalty manners were from another world, but were any models who I worked with who his humor and his sly asides were very didn’t work with Oscar at one point or and support. much of this world. However much I another.” felt like Pa Joad when the Carter family Love, pulled up to the house in Kent that he Jacopo Etro: “Oscar was always a good Alex and Eliza Bolen shared with Annette, I left feeling Cecil friend, not just a colleague. We used Beaton. Charm and good manners have to see each other a lot when he was in that effect on you.” Milan. He was pleasant, well-educated and we worked together for a long Paolo Zegna: “I think that he was a great time on the creation of the fabrics for name, specifically in America, but not his collections. We always very much REMEMBERING THE EXTRAORDINARY OSCAR DE LA RENTA 1932 - 2014 16 WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 WWD.COM

socials, intellectuals, hometown clergy (read: the Dominican archbishop) and, more recently, various Hollywood types — but when you were with him, none was more important than you. Innate goodness did not make Oscar a pushover. To a journalist he was a dream. In an increasingly bland- A True Gentleman answer, ﬂack-controlled world, Oscar was the rara avis willing to speak with and act on conviction. A ﬁrm believer in the second chance, he opened his design studio to post-scandal John Galliano, but ultimately removed him as possible successor out of loyalty to his own staff, some of whom Oscar thought John would want to replace. The bravery revealed itself, too, when Oscar called out Michelle Obama for wearing Alexander McQueen to a 2011 state dinner with People’s Republic of China President Hu Jintao. “My understanding,” he told WWD at the time, “is that the visit was to promote American-Chinese trade — American products in China and Chinese products in America. Why do you wear European clothes?” Oscar worked and charmed both sides of the political aisle. Though he rarely commented publicly on major social-cultural issues, when he did, he was characteristically direct, p.c.-ness be damned. “There is nothing worse than fanatics,” he said during a moving interview not long after the Sept. 11th attacks. “I am one of those immigrants who doesn’t believe in bilingual education. I think bilingual education isolates people.” When warranted, Oscar’s opinions took a humorous turn. Hence, his summer-picnic repartee with Cathy He passed away on Monday night…he did so in the most beautiful way possible — having loved every minute of a life lived beautifully.

Horyn following his spring 2013 collection. He took out a full-page ad in WWD, running an open letter to the then-New York Times critic, which posed the question, “If you have the right to call me a hot dog, do I not have the right to call you a 3-day old hamburger?” Fashion loved the exchange. Ye t Oscar’s hot-dog pique was genuine; he took exception to the implication inherent in the handle eminence gris. “I came to this country when women had a very different role than they have today…” he told WWD last year, in advance of receiving the CFDA’s Founder’s Award in Honor of Eleanor Lambert. “I have been a witness to so much.” He determined quite consciously to stay relevant through it all, at some point making a conscious decision to broaden his reach to generations younger than his traditional core. He succeeded brilliantly with steadfast adherence to a two-point belief system. First, that the purpose of fashion is to help women look beautiful. Secondly, that a designer cannot sit still. “The day I say, ‘I know it all, I should stop,’” he said. “I think one of the most important qualities in a human being is curiosity.” To that end, though “pleased and honored” to accept the Founder’s Award, Oscar told me that the award he wanted, the one that really mattered, was Designer of the Year. “I hate nostalgia,” he said. “Fashion is about now.”

DREW ALTIZER The fact that the Designer of the Year accolade had eluded him for some time may have peeved Oscar, a fierce competitor and quiet modernist to the end. Ye t PHOTO BY that professional irritation aside, anyone who knew SEVERAL YEARS AGO, my daughter had engagement sound appealing. him at all must feel certain that when he passed away a request. Three of her friends, all recent I have numerous such recollections of on Monday night in his beloved home in Connecticut, SCAD graduates working in New York, Oscar. Outside the Queen Sofía Spanish he did so in the most beautiful way possible — having wanted to plan a fashion-centric, Make-a- Institute, of which he was chairman, his loved every minute of a life lived beautifully, and fully Wish type visit to New York for the adolescent long conversation with Jorge, a wonderful at peace with the choices made along the way. “If I had daughter of a beloved professor. Nikki Kaia Latin-American driver with whom I’d become to start my life all over and have nothing, I would not Lee had been diagnosed with a recurrence friendly. His observation at an industry event be extremely unhappy,” he told me during that 2001 of thyroid cancer and hers was a particularly that another designer had been less-than- conversation. “People and relationships are much difficult case, bizarrely resistant to treatment. gracious when brushing off well-wishers he more important.” I called a few people who were as expectedly Bridget Foley ’s didn’t recognize. His comment that during One must cast a vast net to encompass all of the fabulous as people in this industry tend to be Diary his considerable time on the treatment floors lives Oscar has touched. As for Nikki, she is now 20, a in moments of need. of Sloan Kettering, watching the pediatric healthy, beautiful and quite talented aspiring designer. Except Oscar de la Renta. Oscar was beyond patients broke his heart. A junior at SCAD, she has spent part of the last four fabulous. “Of course! Bring Nikki up for lunch,” came Conversely, a delightful turn at the boys’ school summers interning in Oscar’s design studio. his immediate response. “Oscar,” I answered, “I can’t attended by Eliza and Alex Bolen’s three sons. Each I e-mailed her last night with the sad news of be there — a family conflict.” I’m paraphrasing his next year, some parents’ committee sponsors a conversation Oscar’s passing. “Oscar has always been, for me, the line, but not by much: “Who needs you?” with a proverbial Big Name. The Bolens were hit epitome of kindness and grace and compassion,” Nikki At the direction of its leader, the house of de la up to deliver Oscar, and Alex asked me to interview wrote back. “He taught me so much — about design, Renta rolled out the red carpet for a 14-year-old girl him. After our conversation, the floor was opened to about beauty, about life and its wonders, but more from Savannah and her mom. Lunch was served, the questions from the students — lower-school boys, 14 importantly, how to be a genuinely kind, generous and design studio, toured. Oscar discussed the role of the and under — and Oscar gave their questions (which loving soul. I am certain that he touched the life of designer and the responsibility to inform a woman’s were impressive) the same consideration he would every person he met. They say that legends never die, beauty. André Leon Talley dropped by. Nikki went those of an established journalist. and so Oscar will live on, but today I am heartsick… home with presents — an Oscar de la Renta dress!! That was Oscar — friend and confidant to major and so grateful that I knew him. I will never be able to — and the promise of an internship, should such an luminaries of all sorts — heads of state, first ladies, thank him, for his influence on my life.” w

“MY JOB AS A DESIGNER IS TO MAKE A WOMAN FEEL HER VERY BEST.”

We were never more beautiful than we were with you.

Thank you, Mr. de la Renta. 18 WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014

FOR MORE IMAGES, SEE WWD.com/ FLASH BACKS fashion-news. Oscar devotees took to Instagram to pay homage to the couturier. WWD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 19 WWD.COM OBITUARY Luxury brand consultant Joy Yaffe, who helped launch the Ruffo Research Iris Alonzo Returning experimental line in 1997, concurred, saying of Corsi, “He took such pride in the Giacomo Corsi, 60 product, he was a perfectionist and very meticulous. All had to be in place, he was To American Apparel By LUISA ZARGANI very detail-oriented and it all had to be Charney doesn’t have free reign at the just so.” On a personal level, she remem- By EVAN CLARK company he founded. MILAN — Giacomo Corsi, who developed bered Corsi as “a very gentle person, re- The famously libertine Charney has Ruffo into a state-of-the-art leather man- served and generous, and a great gentle- THE NEW American Apparel Inc. is proven to be remarkably resilient. ufacturer and sought to pair his family’s man, showing great humility. And he was starting to look more like the old one. American Apparel’s previous board company with several of the most cre- a true family man. This is a tragedy.” She Sources said the company has re- sidelined him as ceo and signaled its ative talents in the fashion industry, died recalled how he tapped 25 designers, in- hired Iris Alonzo as senior creative intent to fire him for cause after allega- Tuesday at age 60 from complications fol- cluding Helmut Lang, for example, to director with a mission to protect and tions of misconduct. But he rebounded lowing a coronary angioplasty. show their own take on shearling in Paris evolve the brand and help restore some strongly, finding an investment partner A funeral is expected to be held on in July during couture week at the Ritz normalcy to a difficult situation. in Standard General, and succeeded in Wednesday in Empoli, Tuscany. No infor- Hotel in 1997. “I remember Lang did a American Apparel fired Alonzo short- reworking the board. mation on survivors could be learned at sculpture on that occasion,” she said. ly after founder Dov Charney was ousted Charney is now back as a consultant press time. Ruffo Research was introduced in 1998 as chief executive officer in June. although one source stressed he’s in- “We worked together for 30 years and and suspended in 2003 because of difficult One source close to the company vited to participate in the business at he soon became one of my best friends,” market conditions. The collections were cre- cautioned that: “Charney has had no Brubaker’s discretion. recalled a saddened Santo Versace. “He ated by different designers every year. The impact one way or the other on any per- He has no supervisory role, but con- poured his soul into his work; he was one last was Haider Ackermann, who followed sonnel decisions being made. [Interim tinues to speak on the company’s week- of the most important people in the histo- Alexandre Mathieu, Sophia Kokosalaki, ceo] Scott Brubaker is the one ultimately conference call with store managers, ry of Versace; he was part of the team and Véronique Branquinho and Raf Simons. ly making those decisions, not Dov.” another source said. contributed to the success of our brand Kokosalaki said she “was really sorry That is no doubt technically true. But “Dov is fighting hard to regain the and to that of the Made in Italy label.” to hear this. He was a nice man and re- even so, some American Apparel watch- ceo job,” said the source. “Dov is being Ruffo, based in Calcinaia, outside Pisa, spected talent. I am glad I met him ers — and there are still plenty of people very difficult in terms of accepting any- was considered one of the finest specialty through Joy Yaffe and he gave me the op- interested in the highest-profile domestic thing less than the ceo position.” manufacturers in Italy, supplying leather- portunity and freedom to work with leath- apparel producer — saw the appointment The suitability committee of the board wear to Versace, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana er in his amazing factory with his skilled as a measure of Charney’s influence. is still considering Charney’s future at and Roberto Cavalli, among others, reach- and dedicated craftspeople.” Alonzo has been a big supporter the company — and the process has ing a peak of success in the Eighties and In spring 2004, Corsi said he was re- of Charney. She told the Los Angeles stretched out much longer than expected Nineties. “I went with Gianni [Versace] to launching Ruffo Research with Riccardo Times this summer that, “If he were to and could last several more weeks. see the [Ruffo] factory in 1979; the leather Tisci, but the project fell through two not be put back into a leadership posi- It’s a sticky situation for American was extraordinary, and Gianni had an in- months into the relationship when Corsi tion, the steam would soon dissipate.” Apparel. If the company isn’t able to finite passion for leather,” Versace said suspended the collection. One source said Brubaker is in negotiate a way for him to stay, it faces of his late brother. “He nudged him and Ruffo was hit hard by low-cost compe- touch with Charney and has been get- either a hefty severance payment or an nothing was ever impossible to do. He em- tition and outsourcing in 2006, but Corsi ting his recommendations, but that expensive legal battle. bodied the research for perfection.” continued to work as a consultant.

FLY ME TO THE MOON: French department director Stephen Gan, shot by Mario Testino concept will appear not only at the store chain Printemps has elected one and styled by Carine Roitfeld. Hair is by Boulevard Haussmann store, but also MEMO PAD of the landmark gilded cupolas of its Marc Lopez and Audrey Petit-Grard, and at the Printemps Louvre and across its Paris flagship as the backdrop for its makeup by Stéphane Marais. regional stores in France. THE SOUND OF MUSIC: Pharrell Williams, Christmas advertising campaign, which The ad campaign will be unveiled — JOELLE DIDERICH rarely seen without wearing one of his marks its partnership with Burberry for on Nov. 3 on the facade of treasured Chanel sautoirs, is taking the holiday season. the Boulevard Haussmann his relationship with the French Against a starry night sky, Karlie Kloss, flagship, marking the debut The Printemps Christmas brand one step further. WWD has wearing a tiered Burberry evening gown of the retailer’s holiday ad campaign. learned that Karl Lagerfeld directed with a black trenchcoat, is seen climbing collaboration, called “The the musician in his latest movie, the rooftop structure while holding a Magical Christmas Journey to be screened in tandem with the gold umbrella, as male model Simon by Burberry.” Print ads will Paris-Salzburg pre-fall collection the Nessman proffers a gift. appear from Nov. 14 and designer plans to parade on Dec. 2. “This campaign represents the be rolled out to outdoor Filming took place in a Paris studio quintessence of the magic of Christmas,” advertising across France last week, with Cara Delevingne and said Printemps chairman and chief beginning Nov. 24. six-year-old Hudson Kroenig among executive officer Paolo de Cesare. Burberry is the first Williams’ costars and dance partners, “Characterized by generosity and sharing, British luxury label to ESTINO

Lagerfeld said. Chanel’s next Métiers it transports us into an enchanted world partner with Printemps T d’art collection is to be unveiled at the with elegance and mischief, signatures of on its festive celebrations,

Schloss Leopoldskron, an 18th-century the Printemps personality.” following collaborations MARIO

Rococo palace that is considered one For the third year running, the with Prada and Dior. BY

of the finest in Austria. — MILES SOCHA campaign was conceived by creative In a first, the Burberry PRINTEMPS.COM PHOTO Palladin Acquires Stake in Harrys of London Schwartz said the plan is to eventual- By VICKI M. YOUNG ly open standalone stores in the U.S., as well as expand wholesale doors and in- PALLADIN CONSUMER Retail Partners clude a women’s footwear line down the has taken a majority investment in men’s road. The company currently sells bags, For more career opportunities log on to WWDCareers.com. luxury footwear firm Harrys of London briefcases and accessories for men, and for an undisclosed amount. will eventually have small leather goods The existing senior management and handbags for women as well. team led by Marty Wikstrom, chairman, Palladin in June made a similar and creative director Kevin Martel will controlling investment in Aerosoles. Spaces continue to be significant sharehold- Schwartz said the investment firm has ers of the company. Jennifer Moores, an “affinity for footwear, and has been COMMERCIAL a founding shareholder, is also partici- looking for the right men’s platform to REAL ESTATE PATTERNS, SAMPLES, pating in the investment. complement the other holdings in its PRODUCTIONS Activewear for Missy & Girl’s looking Full service shop to the trade. for Designer / Merchandiser. Wikstrom said, “The Palladin team portfolio. At Aerosoles, we’re expand- Fine fast work. 212-869-2699 Shopping & developing styles & brings a wealth of experience in foot- ing styles, technology and comfort. It’s trends. Knowledge of Cads, Colors, Tech Packs. Travel & Excellent wear and growing consumer brands. more moderate than Harrys, which is presentation to retail buyers. Their expertise, support and leader- a higher-end luxury brand....We think Resumes to 33rd-57th St West-All Sizes [email protected] ship will provide creative insights and Harrys is the right platform for [the] Menswear Showrooms operational improvements that will men’s [footwear category].” D. Levy Adams & Co. 212-679-5500 be instrumental in capitalizing on the The brand is sold in 20 countries. In Looking to work with a bulk Sidney Garber is looking for a production finder on a commission motivated, experienced, and strength of the Harrys of London brand the U.S., it is carried in select depart- basis in Bangladesh and India in detail-oriented sales specialist for it’s as we bring the company to the next ment stores and specialty doors, and Showrooms & Lofts Mens/ Ladies bottoms, blouses, shirts Madison Avenue Boutique. BWAY 7TH AVE SIDE STREETS etc. in US complaint factories. Call Please forward cover letter and level of development.” online. There are three freestanding Great ’New’ Office Space Avail Bob (917)- 238- 5800, email or resume to [email protected] Mark Schwartz, chief executive of- stores in the U.K., as well as two stores ADAMS & CO. 212-679-5500 [email protected] ficer of Palladin, said, “Harrys is a each in Kuwait and Japan and one great brand that combines old-world store in Dubai. techniques in footwear with the latest in Palladin is a private equity firm. technology, making the shoes more com- Other current and former invest- fortable and much more wearable. The ments in the fashion space separate shoes are handmade with the technology from Aerosoles include Nic + Zoe, J. that men have come to expect.” McLaughlin and Andrew Marc.

w22a019a;7.indd 19 10/21/14 8:40 PM 10212014204046 oscar“ fashion is a trend. style lives within a person.” de la r enta

You’re truly a legend—and your style, warmth and charm will inspire us forever. From our entire Nordstrom family, you will be missed.