Oscar de la Renta, designer of gowns for America’s first ladies, dies at age 82

The award-winning couturier, who died after a long battle with cancer, became famous in the 1960s for designing clothes worn by Jacqueline Kennedy. More recently, he designed the wedding gown worn by George Clooney’s new wife, Amal Alamuddin. De la Renta became one of the go-to designers for American first ladies including Kennedy, Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. Michelle Obama recently wore one of his dresses to a White House event.

The beauty of those clothes, I think they really define sort of American style. … It’s a feminine but clean, strong line—just beautiful, beautiful dresses.

Tina Fey, speaking at an Elle magazine event

De la Renta left his native Dominican Republic at age 18 to study painting in Spain, but soon became sidetracked by fashion. The wife of the U.S. ambassador saw some of his sketches and asked him to make a dress for her daughter—a dress that landed on the cover of Life magazine. By 1963, he was working for Elizabeth Arden couture in New York and in 1965, he launched his own label.

Arts Oscar de la renta