Fashion icon Oscar de La Renta died on Monday at the age of 82, ABC News reports. The designer was diagnosed with cancer in 2006. De la Renta’s designs shot to prominence in the early 1960s when he became a favorite of Jaqueline Kennedy and went onto create his own label shortly after.
Here’s more from Variety:
Born in the Dominican Republic to a powerful family, de la Renta went to study painting in Spain and became and apprenticed with Cristobal Balenciaga before moving to Paris to work at Lanvin and Balmain. He launched his ready-to-wear label in 1965 in New York… His work was also a favorite of first ladies — he dressed Nancy Reagan in the 1980s and then provided inaugural gowns for Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. Hillary Clinton introduced a recent retrospective of his designs, saying, “His name alone evokes elegance and timeless beauty. And his designs give each of us a chance to feel like we’re special, too.”
