Oscar de la Renta

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Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo (22 July 1932 – 20 October 2014), known professionally as Oscar de la Renta, was a Dominican fashion designer. Born in Santo Domingo, he was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo. De la Renta became internationally known in the 1960s as one of the couturiers who dressed Jacqueline Kennedy. He worked for Lanvin and Balmain. His eponymous fashion house has boutiques around the world including in Harrods of London and Madison Avenue in New York.[1]

Oscar de la Renta's collections were described as always distinctly modern, yet they also possessed a romantic, feminine quality, reflecting his grounding in both American sportswear and European couture. Consistent elements of his vision include a vibrant colour palette, delicate silk prints, the use of ruffles, and soft silhouettes.[2]

Controversy

In September 2013, former Oscar de la Renta employee has filed a racially charged discrimination suit against the famous clothing manufacturer and another female worker who repeatedly used the “N-word” while on duty.[3] Erica Diggs, who is black, accused Nora Elezay, who is white, of peppering “all employees of color” with the racial slur, including supervisors, at the Oscar de la Renta warehouse at JFK Airport. Diggs demanded that Elezay to stop using the derogatory term, but Elezay just mocked her and asked why she was so offended when all the other employees didn’t mind, court papers allege. Diggs quickly reported the incident to her recruiter, Jackie Fischer, who sent an email to Diggs and ODLR Manager Cindy Cheek, expressing “her deepest apologies,” the suit says. Over the next few days, the suit alleges, Elezay started retaliating against Diggs for making the complaint by acting rude and abrasive toward her. Cheek then fired Diggs in an email dated April 26, the suit charges.

A Queens Supreme Court jury ruled in favor of Diggs, awarding her $2,940 for compensatory damages and $28,500 for punitive damages. In May 2016, Justice Allan B. Weiss ordered Oscar De La Renta to pay $115,603.73 in legal fees.[4]

References