PHOTOGRAPHS: BFA; GETTY IMAGES; INSTAGRAM/@IVANKATRUMPFrom far left, Ivanka
Trump; Lauren Santo
Domingo; Laura Kim
and Fernando Garcia.
Below, Nan Kempner
in de la Renta, 198864 Tatler October 2019 tatler.com[In Oscar’s time, those de la Renta
bows appeared on Brooke Astor,
Nancy Reagan, Anne Getty, Grace
Dudley, Pat Buckley, Marie-Hélène
de Rothschild, Mica Ertegun and
Nan Kempner. But, asserts Garcia,
‘I don’t think that same woman ex-
ists anymore.’ Today’s bevvy are pea-
cocks with powerful jobs: Nicky
Rothschild (née Hilton), Ivanka
Trump, Huma Abedin and Aman-
da Hearst all flock to the brand.
‘They wouldn’t dress now how those
women dressed then,’ he continues.
‘They need to feel a bit more versa-
tile, structured, sexier... Now that
woman wants to dress as the lady
who works.’
The year before he died, de la
Renta designed Amal Clooney’s
wedding dress, but these days she
calls the house only ‘two or three
times a year because she’s so busy,’
says Kim. No doubt she’s preoccu-
pied with bringing Isis fighters to
justice over the Yazidi genocide and
raising two toddlers. ‘She spends
some time to look good,’ Garcia con-
tinues. ‘A lot of women in her field
find fashion off-putting or beneath
them. She celebrates it – she’s against
the grain. We’re very proud to be a
part of that wave.’
With the modern woman in
mind, Kim and Garcia embarked
on making the brand lighter, more
contemporary and effortless. Cue
cigarette trousers with matching
bustiers or pullovers, double-faced
cashmere coats that can go fromwas draped in emerald chiffon at the
Save Venice Ball, or Nicky Rothschild
in a black velvet column dress,
spliced open with a spangled slit.
Modern women aren’t looking
for a team of dressers. They want
ease and an outfit that elicits a sym-
phony of double-taps on Instagram.
And the house artfully captures the
zeitgeist for dressed-down, mixed-
and-matched, couture-with-jeans.
That’s certainly the case when it
comes to the Duchess of Sussex.
The designers have established a
personal relationship with Meghan,
not only dressing her for several oc-
casions – an hourglass tulle cocktail
number flocked with velvet seagulls
in Sydney last year; a Toile de Jouy
poplin dress for the wedding of
Celia McCorquodale. They were
also part of a seminal moment of
British history last year, the royal
wedding, which was watched by
more than 50 million people world-
wide. ‘Meghan was adamant about
having an American fashion house
represented at the wedding since
she’s American,’ explains Garcia.
‘She called me directly – I had no
idea she was able to do that or had
my number – and gave me a 15-
minute speech about why it was im-
portant for her. I assumed it was be-
cause it was her own wedding dress,
but at the end she said, “And would
you be interested in making this
dream come true with my mother?”’
The monologue was unnecessary:
the answer was always going to be
an immediate yes. The result was a
beautiful peppermint dress and
matching coat, finished with whiteBYS TA NDE R
FASHIONconferences to cocktails; invisible
corsetry in leggy gowns; patchwork
silks cut on the bias and plenty of
coats and dresses crafted from luxe
menswear fabrics such as a Prince of
Wales check. It’s all still distinctly
uptown, but with an added dash of
insouciance and the perfect mix of
slouch and swish. It helps that the
designers are close to each other:
they live in TriBeCa, eat breakfast
and work out together most days,
and holiday in Mykonos.
The eveningwear, an essential
stalwart of the house, has also been
tempered with the mood of the times:
more streamlined, comfortable and
relaxed. The Oscar woman ‘doesn’t
want to be mocked at a dinner party
as someone who is stagnant,’ adds
Garcia. For proof, look no further
than Lauren Santo Domingo, whobotanical embroidery rising from
the hem. ‘Meghan was so lovely to
work with, she brought us a snack
every time [she visited] and it was
very easy as she knew what she
wanted,’ adds Kim. These days, the
Duchess texts when she needs
something. ‘Whenever she has an
event, she’s very hands-on,’ says
Garcia. ‘She likes what we’ve been
doing. It’s such a big compliment.’
For women like Meghan, in need
of something glamorous, the red-
brick Oscar de la Renta boutique on
the corner of Mount Street and
Berkeley Square is a quiet, light-
filled haven. The parquet floors are
lined with rails of cotton poplin
dresses, glimmering eveningwear
and plush minks peppered with
crystal embroidery. This autumn,
they’ll open a boutique in Paris on
Rue de Marignan, designed by Kim’s
sister, Jeang Kim, who’s also worked
on Tom Ford’s stores. ‘I think a Paris
store for any brand is almost like a
poster for the whole world,’ says Kim.
Back in New York, the two are
continuing the tradition of dressing
the First Lady, Melania Trump – as
well as her stepdaughter, Ivanka –
despite many American fashion
houses issuing statements that they
would not. Over the course of his
decades-spanning career, Oscar de la
Renta dressed Jackie Kennedy
Onassis, Nancy Reagan, Laura Bush,
Hillary Clinton and Michelle Oba-
ma (although not until seven years
into her tenure, much to his cha-
grin). ‘Fashion is non-political and
non-partisan,’ he famously said.
Kim and Garcia continue to
work by his maxim. It may be five
years since the great man took his
final bow, but for society’s scions
and a new generation of cygnets, it’s
always Oscar season. (10-19BYST-Oscar.indd 64 15/08/2019 12:28