“there is always an emotional element to anything you make.” ~ oscar de la renta
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the things we love are always emotional. whether people, places, or yes, the things we make by hand or do ~ those things we put both on our bodies, in our bodies, or affect in some way our selves ~ in the actual act, or the memory they invoke later ~ is manipulated and sculpted into something more than it was. it was made by hand, with love ~ alchemy ~ interpreted, worn, or the case of food, eaten by another… it’s in that transference, that dialogue, that understanding that exists between maker and consumer through an object, where emotion is so strikingly and at times indescribably ethereal yet real.
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Oscar de la Renta left this world today, but his clothes will always remain ~ whether images in my head of women floating down the runway in his grand silhouettes, actual pieces i own, or the quotes that create the tapestry of this piece, his voice is clear, inspiring, his gowns ethereal, majestic ~ I was continually influenced by his presence, his image, his grace.
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“the great thing about fashion is that it always looks forward.”
~ oscar de la renta
above ~ in rust satin, pregnant. center ~ Royal in Missoni knit; and, left, in fleece at the Academy of Art runway show.
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” i don’t really know how to do casual clothes.” ~ oscar de la renta
“these violent delights have violent ends. and in their triump die,
like fire and powder. which as they kiss, consume.” ~ shakespeare, romeo and juliet
above ~ “hearts” in Verona, Italy at Casa di Giulietta. “you are my love” gown, worn by Shaye McKenney. Shaye and I with Filiz Caglayan. Barbie in silk and suede on a rosette heart sculpture, inspired by Casa di Giulietta.
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“i like light, color, luminosity. i like things full of color and vibrant.” ~ oscar de la renta
“because i know that time is always time, and place is always and only place, and what is actual is actual
for only one time and only for one place.” ~ t.s. eliot quoted in chris marker’s sans soleil
above ~Oscar de la Renta at his final show, sept 9th 2014. My “Saffron” Barbie collection for Jeff Ingram and Stuart Locklear’s short film Saffron. My and Artful Gentleman’s Hitchcock/Vertigo collection photographed by Kelly Puleio, 2013.
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“gardening is how i relax. it’s another form of creating and playing with colors.” ~ oscar de la renta
above ~ my Chez Panisse collection photographed by Gabriel Harber, 2011 ~ “Beets” and “Carrots.
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“walk like you have three men walking behind you.” ~ oscar de la renta
“if i won’t be myself, who will?” ~ alfred hitchcock
above, collage ~ Black V show, 2012. Oscar de la Renta & Audrey Hepburn, Emma Stone (wearing Oscar) at Darren Arronofsky’s NOAH premiere. A favorite inspiring ad ~ my and Artful Gentleman’s Hitchcock collection photographed by Kelly Puleio, 2013.
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“dominos, bridge…I love to compete. And rules were made to be broken.” ~ oscar de la renta
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above, top ~ SNOW 2012, with Rebecca Beardsley and the finale of models from my collection.
bottom ~ a recent Oscar de la Renta polka dot gown, 2o14. My “My Fair Lady” black and white gown (from 2007), with a gold Ramona gown, photographed by Kelly Puleio at McCroskey Mattress Factory, SF, 2013.
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“i’m a very restless person. i’m always doing something. the creative process never stops.” ~ oscar de la renta
above ~One of my favorite scenes from Phil Kaufman’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) juxtaposed with
my “Mille Feuille” Collection for Deb Durant’s 50/50 LIGHT exhibit
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Upcoming EVENT at 50/50 LIGHT (with deb durant, jessica williams and a champagne tasting)
Trunkshow/Viewing ~ 6:30-9:30pm, Thursday October 23rd 2014
1491 Shattuck, Berkeley (next to Saul’s, in the old Black Oak Books space)
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“We all need someone to look at us. We can be divided into four categories according to the kind of look we wish to live under . . . The fourth category, the rarest, is the category of people who live in the imaginary eyes of those who are not present. They are the dreamers.” Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
