Like several other fashion designers, Oscar De La Renta has his roots in the fine arts. He studied painting at the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid, having moved there from his home in the Dominican Republic.
He changed his passion from the arts fashion and landed an apprenticeship sketching for Cristobal Balenciaga, Spain s most renowned couturier.
De La Renta moved from Spain to Paris to work for Lanvin and from there, went to the United States to work for Elizabeth Arden, launching his own label in 1965.
De La Renta has been phenomenally successful and had created a huge range of clothing for men and women, as well as a line of home furnishings and fragrances.
In 1995 Oscar De La Renta was presented the Living Legend Award by the American Society of Perfumes for his work creating fragrances such as Oscar for Men, as yet his sole men s EDT.
