I know we are all dying, the day will come when you, or I will die, it is the last action we take in this world, and no matter how we have lived, or what mark we are leaving on the world death will never stop being sad, it is the truth, because just like Gabriel Garcia Marquez showed us, humans are mostly nostalgic.
But although death will never cease to be sad, it does cease to be shameful. You feel shame when someone that did not use his life for worthy things dies, but when someone that did like Oscar de la Rental did you can only feel proud.
That is the word that describes the death of Oscar de la Renta: Pride. I can only feel proud because although I have no rights over his achievements, I do feel that they benefitted me, and fashion lovers around the world in general.
It was he that made us more sensitive, it was he that made women more feminine without being weaker, it was he who inspired people around the world to become fashion designers, it was he who made it possible to feel haute couture in prêt-à-porter, It was he who defied the stereotypes of sexual orientation of men working in the fashion industry and it was he who proved Latin Americans can be as classy as they aspire to be. Oscar de la Renta was an admirable man: humble, simple, tasteful, and with a sensitivity that only true artists can have, he dressed women like Monet painted pond lilies, in his own perfect way.I can only thank you Oscar from wherever you might be, and tell you that although your death makes me sad it also makes me feel proud.
Peter Copping, i can only hope your designs will make me feel half as happy as Oscar's designs made me feel every season.
