Legendary Fashion Designer Oscar De La Renta Dies At 82
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Influential and iconic fashion designer Oscar de la Renta died Monday, ending a career that spanned five decades.
De la Renta died at his home in Kent, Connecticut on Monday, according to published reports. He was 82.
As CBS 2's Tracee Carrasco reported, de La Renta is known for dressing everyone from White House first ladies to the first ladies of Hollywood, and his creations graced red carpets for decades.
De la Renta gained international notoriety in the early 1960s as a designer for First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
His design prowess was seen just this past year – from the wardrobes seen on Sarah Jessica Parker, Amy Adams, and Taylor Swift at this year's Met Gala to Amal Allamuddin's wedding dress for her September nuptials to George Clooney.
De la Renta also can be credited for dressing many of Hollywood's most fashionable. While he is known for his evening gowns, his fashion empire extended to beauty, home furnishings, children's clothes, and accessories.
De la Renta was born in 1932 in the Dominican Republic capital of Santa Domingo. He was always proud of his roots, which had a major impact on his career.
"When I started my career and people will ask me, think of my name, de la Renta – they thought I was Italian. They thought I was Spanish. When they heard the name de la Renta and I said it comes from the Dominican Republic, their faces will fall down, because there's no tradition for fashion in the Dominican Republic. Why a Dominican designer?" he said in an interview in recent years. "And I said, I'm going to turn a negative into a positive."
It was unclear Monday night was caused de la Renta's death, but he reportedly had been battling cancer.
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