SF's De Young museum gets Oscar de la Renta retrospective

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Feb 12, 2016

San Francisco’s de Young Museum will get the world premiere of a retrospective on the life and career of Oscar de la Renta.

The de Young will show Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective, featuring five decades of the designer’s work. It is curated by André Leon Talley, former Vogue editor-at-large and lifelong friend of de la Renta who led another de la Renta exhibit last year that debuted at SCAD.

Talley commented, "this privilege is exceedingly important for me after years of close friendship with Oscar, as well as a strong working relationship during my life at Vogue. My goal is to highlight the extraordinary depth of Oscar’s creative aesthetic from his earliest designs for Jane Derby throughout the five decades of his remarkable career.”

The retrospective features over 130 pieces contributed by both the company, the House of Balmain, and private collections including the designer’s personal collection.

It begins with de la Renta’s early commissions, and is divided into influential thematic periods for the designer including Spanish, Eastern, Russian, and garden inspiration. It includes ball gowns and red carpet looks, concluding with pieces that helped define ‘his eventual role as a designer for many of the most influential and celebrated personalities of the 20th and 21st centuries.”

Gowns included in the exhibition include those worn by Former First Lady Laura Bush, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, actress Sarah Jessica Parker, and musician Rihanna.

The Oscar de la Renta exhibit will be the 7th costume exhibit by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, signifying the City’s goal to recognize fashion as art. It will be on display from March 12 through May 30, 2016.