Oscar de la Renta passed last night, at the age of 82. It’s easy to celebrate the ones who no longer are with us, only the bright paths are counted at the end of days. But it is undeniable that light is the element that best characterized the couturier’s creations. Light of beauty, wellness, a positiveness that Americans would call “wealthy”, in the sense that only among Park Avenue society can find full meaning. “He brought high society into haute couture”. European education, in Spain, studying as a painter, opened the eyes of Oscar on the colours and the beauty of the world. France is responsible for sartorial excellence. America signed the formality, the taste for a dress perfect for the occasion when you are wearing it. Not surprisingly, the most stylish first lady, from Jackie Kennedy thereafter, are the ones who preferred him. It is ironic to think that, in a time so delicate for fashion, where those who decide the future of the streets often flounders on recognizing innovation in traditional elegance, and clouds his judgment with a circus of color and fast food Barbie dolls, is gone just the one to whom we owe the current as ever expression “fashion victim”. We will try to pay more attention. Beauty never dies.
