By Monica Dinh
Entertainment Editor
On Monday Oct. 20, Oscar de la Renta, one of the world’s most renowned and legendary fashion designers, passed away at age 82 due to complications of cancer.
He designed not for the sole purpose of dressing women, but more so for the purpose of elevating women’s confidence. De la Renta understood how boosting a woman’s outward appearance coherently boosted confidence within. He believed in beauty, not for superficial looks, but for the character underneath.
Through the years, De la Renta designed for many well-known figures including Yahoo’s chief executive, Marissa Mayer, female rapper, Nikki Minaj, Laura Bush, for her husband’s second inauguration, and daughter Jenna Bush for her wedding. Other figures chose to dress in De la Renta for honored events, like Oprah at the Costume Institute Gala in 2010 and Sarah Jessica Parker at her 40th birthday in New York City’s Plaza Hotel.
The last significantly intricate design De la Renta constructed was a wedding dress for Amal Alamuddin’s marriage to George Clooney last month in Venice, Italy.
On Nov. 3, family and friends of De la Renta are organizing a private mass at Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on Park Avenue and 84th Street in Manhattan in order to pay tribute to the designer. The fashion world lost an admirable personality with De la Renta’s death. He once said, “A runway is a spectacle. It’s only fashion when a woman puts it on. Being well dressed hasn’t much to do with good clothes. It’s a question of good balance and good common sense.”
