Legendary fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, who spent half a century putting high society in Haute Couture, has died. He was 82. The man — often described as the “sultan of suave” — not only dressed every first lady since Jacqueline Kennedy, but the wedding dresses for many of their children as well, including Jenna Bush and Chelsea Clinton.

“We will always remember him as the man who made women look and feel beautiful,” former first lady Laura Bush said. The cause of his death, announced Monday by close family friends and industry colleagues, was not immediately clear. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2006, but said last year he was “totally clean.”

“The only realities in life are that you are born, and that you die,” he told an audience at New York’s 92Y “Fashion Talks” series in June 2013. “We always think we are going to live forever. The dying aspect we will never accept. The one thing about having this kind of warning is how you appreciate every single day of life.”

Born July 22, 1932, in the Dominican Republic, he was the only son Continue reading →