SOMETHING NEW AT OSCAR DE LA RENTA
When they’re not running from bears — a dawn surprise at the League to Save Lake Tahoe fashion show — Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia are busy running the design side of the Oscar de la Renta fashion house as well as their own design house, Monse. That’s 12 collections a year in total, not counting a costume design project for the New York City Ballet fashion gala on Sept. 28, but the two made time for the Tahoe show on Aug. 5, their first official visit as creative directors. Kim, who joined the house in 2003, and Garcia, who joined in 2009, worked as assistants to de la Renta until his death in 2014. Kim, a Korea native raised in Canada, and Garcia, born in the Dominican Republic, replaced Peter Copping at the helm and are infusing a youthful sensibility into the romantic classicism that constitutes the house’s DNA. Backstage, they talked with The Chronicle about American style.
Q: Bay Area women flock to Oscar de la Renta gowns for gala nights. Why? Laura Kim: It’s grand. It’s very strong, visually.
Fernando Garcia: Simple silhouettes and bold colors. You’ll be noticed for wearing an Oscar gown, but not for the sake of being noticed. It has a very, very signature look to it.
Q: Growing up abroad, looking from the outside in at American style, what did you see?
LK: As a teenager in Canada, American style was Vogue. I said, “I have to go to New York.”
FG: To me, it was like seeing John John (John F. Kennedy Jr.) and Jackie O (Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) and that sort of heritage — that world was very attractive to me, and Oscar was definitely one of those designers that was spearheading the movement of dressing that type of people, so that’s why I personally looked up to his style and the American way.
Q: Times change. Contrast what your customer was like when you started at the house with what she wants today? LK: Ladies are much more casual now, compared to 12 years ago. The lifestyle — there’s a lot of workout involved, so a lot of people wear yoga pants all the time. It’s just more comfort-driven.
FG: It’s about being more versatile, not so much strictly wearing a cocktail dress. It’s an evening top or a fabulous pant with a more casual, out-of-your closet top. It’s about offering more pieces that they can add into their wardrobe so there’s more versatility.
Q: Is there an American style, or just a global style today? LK: Yes, there is — it’s more “street,” I think.
Q: But we’re probably not going to see yoga pants from Oscar de la Renta, are we?
LK: We actually have yoga pants for the fall collection. It was a gold, stretchy legging.
FG: But we wouldn’t show it with a yoga top. You’ll see things you can mix with your yoga pants, which is the evolution of the brand.