The man who has dressed Hollywood icons, heads of state, and every First Lady since Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis has passed away.

Oscar de la Renta has died at the age of 82.  He died at his home in Kent, Connecticut last night.

Hamilton College in Clinton, New York awarded de la Renta an honorary degree on May 26, 2013.

Although he was diagnosed with cancer in 2006, de la Renta was believed to have been free of the disease by 2013.  The cause and details surrounding his death have not yet been made public.

Photo Credit: Mark Mainz, Getty Images
Photo Credit: Mark Mainz, Getty Images
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De la Renta was born in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic and was the only boy among seven children.

Photo Credit: George De Sota, Getty Images
Photo Credit: George De Sota, Getty Images
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Oscar de la Renta left the Dominican Republic to study painting in Spain.  Once there he embarked on an apprenticeship with the man who was to become his mentor, Cristóbal Balenciaga.  In an interview with Women's Wear Daily's Rosemary Feitelberg in November of 2013 the designer said that Balenciaga's bankruptcy led him to France.

The designer was honored earlier this year when more than sixty of his dresses were on display at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in an exhibition entitled, "Oscar de la Renta: Five Decades of Style."

 


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