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Photo courtesy of Fashion Sizzle.
“THE 21ST CENTURY IS THE CENTURY OF THE WOMAN,”
said Oscar de la Renta in 2010. You can see this declaration
manifested throughout his work, and throughout his current
retrospective at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. His
designs, known for their boldness, femininity and opulence,
require a woman to be comfortable taking center stage,
whether it’s in a full floral ballgown, vibrant kaftan or an
embellished tunic.
It’s no surprise then that powerful women from the realms of
both politics and pop culture have continuously been loyal
clients of the designer throughout his career, from presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton to pop star Taylor Swift. At the
end of the day, women — and how they felt in his clothes —
were always what drove his vision.
“I believe that my sole purpose as a designer is to create
something that I think a woman would want to wear,” said de
la Renta in 1972.
Although there are more than 120 ensembles produced
over five decades on display, every piece seems to make
one unifying assertion: “Look at me.” His work embraces a
singular expression of womanhood, reveling in its aspects of
adornment, attention and drama. If all the world’s a stage, de
la Renta’s clothes are what you’d want to be wearing for your
moment in the spotlight.
While the retrospective highlights his global influences, from
East to West, it also conveys his overarching American attitude
toward change. The Dominican Republic-born designer
refined his craft in Paris but left for this reason: “I’d come
to New York because I believed the future of fashion was in
ready-to-wear.”
“Over the course of his career, he mixed an incredible
sensibility of ready-to-wear and haute couture, creating demi
couture, an amazing synthesis of both,” Richard Benefield,
the de Young’s Acting Director and Exhibition Organizer,
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