Spectacular Fashion on Display

In the spring of 2011, Oscar de la Renta hosted a runway show at Charlotte, North Carolina’s then recently launched Mint Museum Uptown location, and though the famed designer would never return to the Queen City—he died in 2014—his work soon will with the opening of the traveling exhibit The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta (April 29–July 29, 2018), curated by André Leon Talley, former American Vogue editor at large. Part of the Mint’s yearlong celebration of its acclaimed fashion collection, the exhibition serves as the glittering backdrop for the museum’s Coveted Couture Gala (April 28), cochaired by Laura Vinroot Poole and her husband, Perry, owners of the high-end Charlotte clothiers Tabor, Poole, and the venerable Capitol, which marks its twentieth anniversary in 2018. The exhibit showcases original sketches; editorial photography from various fashion magazines; and fifty ensembles pulled from de la Renta’s corporate and personal archives, the Pierre Balmain collection (de la Renta directed the French house from 1993 to 2002), and couture-stuffed private closets. Click through for an early look.

April 24, 2018

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Oscar de la Renta with Naty Abascal, 1960s.

Photo: courtesy of Oscar de la Renta, LLC

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House Sketch of Evening Dress of Polychrome Lamé, Sable, and Metallic Braid, Fall 1968.

Photo: Courtesy of Oscar de la Renta Archive

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Designer Oscar de la Renta poses with models after the showing of his spring 1996 collection in New York, November 1995.

Photo: AP Photo / Paul Hurschmann

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Caftan of Hand-Painted Silk Crepe de Chine, Summer 1982.

Photo: Courtesy of Oscar de la Renta, LLC.

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Oscar de la Renta. Gown.

Photo: Gift of Oscar de la Renta, LLC; Collection of the Mint Museum

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House Drawing, Spring 1992.

Photo: courtesy of Oscar de la Renta Archive

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Oscar de la Renta, Evening Ensemble with Reproduction Blouse, 2002, cotton, silk shantung, sequin and bead embroidery, and grosgrain ribbon.

Photo: Collection of Alexandra Kotur.; © Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

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House Sketch of Day Ensemble, Dress and Jacket of Yellow and White Wool, Oscar de la Renta for Jane Derby, Fall 1966.

Photo: courtesy of Oscar de la Renta Archive

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Left: Oscar de la Renta, Custom Evening Coat, 2012, silk taffeta, the Collection of Annette de la Renta (worn by Annette de la Renta at the Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012).

Photo: © Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

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Oscar de la Renta for Pierre Balmain, Evening Ensemble, Spring/Summer 2004, silk, passementerie, bead embroidery, silk tassels, and raffia, the Collection of Annette de la Renta.

Photo: © Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

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Oscar de la Renta, Custom Evening Ensemble, 2001, silk taffeta and silk satin. Worn by Mica Ertegun to an event celebrating her 40th wedding anniversary to Ahmet Ertegun, 2001.

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Oscar de la Renta, Day Ensemble, Fall 2005, cashmere, metal stud, and sequin and stone appliqué (sweater); silk (skirt).

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Oscar de la Renta, Evening Dress, Fall 1967, synthetic matelassé with rhinestone, bead, and sequin embroidery.

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Oscar de la Renta, Evening Gown, Spring 2011, embroidered silk.

Photo: The Mint Museum Auxiliary's Gift to the Costume Collection of The Mint Museum

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André Leon Talley and Oscar de la Renta at Book Signing, Rizzoli Books, New York, July 2005.

Spectacular Fashion on Display

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