Arts & Life

‘Timeless and Elegant’

Aspiring fashion designers from Cal State University Long Beach are in mourning after the death of Oscar de la Renta – a major influence in the fashion industry.

CSULB fashion design majors like senior Lianne Running reflected on Oscar de la Renta and his accomplishments.

“He’s the main inspiration for a lot of designers in my classes,” Running said. “All of his clothing is timeless and beautiful, it’s so sad.”

First ladies Hilary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama have posed and worn his designs to events and inaugurations.

Celebrities like Taylor Swift, Kris Jenner and Nicky Hilton and others are taking to Twitter and Instagram to quote and remember Oscar de la Renta, and the influence he has had on the world.

Estefany Arias, a senior fashion design major, said she has admired his work, and has looked up to him since she was 15 years old.

“If someone dies and they’re an artist, that person has a really special relationship to what they created,” Arias said. “They don’t really die; people can still buy things or even look at a vintage dress from Oscar de la Renta.”

She said his work is elegant and timeless, and that his legacy will live on.

“It’s a sad loss, but it doesn’t really feel like a loss. His creative energy and spirit will live and carry on,” Arias said.

Edwin Rivera, a senior fashion design major, described De la Renta’s work as “clean,” but also simple, intricate and sophisticated.

“It’s a great loss, he was a great inspiration for a lot of people,” Rivera said.

Although de la Renta is gone, he has left his name, designs and his spirit will live on with future clothing, Rivera said.

He respected him as a designer and said he was a very talented man.

Rivera said his professors briefly mentioned his death in classes, but that it hasn’t stopped the class flow.

“We’re busy and trying to get stuff done,” Rivera said. “We’re always on the run.”

Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the award winning designer and legendary fashion icon whose collections and designs have been seen on runways, was diagnosed with cancer in 2006.

He died in his home in Kent, Conn. on Oct. 20 with the cause of death that seems related to complications from cancer at the age of 82.

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