Born: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1932

Colourful and sociable, Oscar de la Renta studied art in Spain, worked for Cristobal Balenciaga and was then employed as an assistant to Antonio del Castillo at Lanvin. He cites Coco Chanel and Balenciaga as the major talents of the century.

In 1967 de la Renta married the editor-in-chief of French Vogue, Françoise de la Languade. He later married New York socialite, Annette Reed, in 1989. De la Renta lives in Connecticut, but also owns an opulent apartment in New York and a luxurious retreat in La Romana in the Dominican Republic. Famous for his opulent eveningwear, which is both vibrant and tasteful, his clients list is a roll call of America’s socially significant – Liza Minelli, Nancy Reagan, Joan Collins, Ivana Trump, Jacqueline Onassis and Fay Dunaway – and his friends include Dr Henry Kissinger and television presenter Barbara Walters.

De la Renta is well known for his services to charity: he set up a children’s home, Casa de Niños, in his native Dominican Republic – and adopted one of their children, Moises, at 8 months old.

Although de la Renta’s signature is flamboyance and colour, he has survived major swings in fashion. In 1991, at 58 years of age and with annual sales of $350 million, de la Renta showed his collection for the first time in an attempt to broaden his client base – it was also the first time an American designer had shown in Paris. The public relations exercise paid off: two years later, in 1993, he was appointed designer to Pierre Balmain – making him the first American designer to head a Parisian couture house. His career had, at last, come full circle.

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