Oscar de la Renta | |
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Óscar de la Renta at the Hotel Ritz, Madrid during a visit to Spain in 2008
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Born |
Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo July 22, 1932 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
Died | October 20, 2014 Kent, Connecticut, U.S. |
(aged 82)
Residence | Kent, Connecticut, U.S. |
Citizenship | American, Dominican |
Education | Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando |
Spouse(s) |
Françoise de Langlade (m. 1967; d. 1983) Annette Engelhard (m. 1989) |
Children | Moisés de la Renta |
Relatives |
Luis Álvarez Renta (nephew) Fabio Fiallo (uncle) Luis Arístides Fiallo (uncle) Viriato Fiallo (cousin) Larimar Fiallo (first cousin-twice removed) José Ortíz de la Renta (great-great-grandfather) |
Awards |
CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award, American Fashion Critic's Award, Order of Juan Pablo Duarte, Order of Cristóbal Colón |
Website | www |
Labels | Oscar Renta |
CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award, American Fashion Critic's Award, Order of Juan Pablo Duarte,
Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo (22 July 1932 – 20 October 2014), known professionally as Oscar de la Renta, was a Dominican-American fashion designer. Born in Santo Domingo, he was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo. De la Renta became internationally known in the 1960s as one of the couturiers who dressed Jacqueline Kennedy. An award-winning designer, he worked for Lanvin and Balmain. His eponymous fashion house continues to dress leading figures, from film stars to royalty.
De la Renta, the youngest of seven children and the only boy in his family, was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to a Dominican mother, Carmen María Antonia Fiallo, and a Puerto Rican father, Óscar Avelino De La Renta, owner of an insurance company. The Fiallos, De la Renta's mother's family, were so embedded in Dominican society that they could count poets, scholars, and businessmen, as well as top army brass among their members. Their origin in the island can be traced back to the foundation of San Carlos de Tenerife in 1685 by Canarian settlers.
A maternal uncle, Luis Arístides Fiallo Cabral, was a doctor, lawyer, and architect, who received every degree the University of Santo Domingo could offer. Another maternal uncle, Fabio Fiallo, was a diplomat and poet. On his father's side, De la Renta's great-great grandfather José Ortíz de la Renta, was the first mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico elected by popular vote. He had the distinction of serving as mayor eight times, the most ever — 1812–1814, 1815–1816, 1820–1821, 1823–1826, 1837–1838, 1842–1843, and 1843–1844, and in 1846.