“I always tell this story: When I started, the woman went to the store to buy a dress. She saw it in pink and red, and then she remembered that the husband, who is probably going to pay for the dress, loves it in pink. So she buys the pink. Today, the same woman goes to the store and remembers the husband likes pink, and she buys the red.'”

“It's almost impossible to find a woman—anywhere—who wouldn't want Oscar de la Renta in her closet.”

“Mr. de la Renta, at 76, seems to be at that point in his career when, like Kurosawa or Fellini, he has been a master of his craft for so long that he owns a golden mean that consistently delivers symmetry, proportion and harmony and is therefore at liberty to ditch all constraints and break any rules he doesn't feel like obeying.”

“You don't have to own monstrously beautiful, prohibitively expensive Oscar de la Renta garments any more than you need to own a genuine Kandinsky. But your life can generally be improved just by knowing such gorgeous stuff exists. That Keats guy said it: 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'”

“He has done everything and dressed everyone who has mattered. What is remarkable is that he remains contemporary, and without the old angst.”

“De la Renta creates clothes that a young woman can wear without appearing dowdy and an older woman can embrace without looking silly. His point of view is pure sophistication and good taste, femininity and prettiness. There are no tricks. ”

“De la Renta's design sensibility relies on the philosophy that all women—no matter their age—want to look lovely. There are times when a young woman may want to look hip, androgynous or edgy. And for that she will seek out a different designer. An older woman may at times want to look like a powerbroker. There are other houses that cater to that. But the desire to be pretty extends across all generations.”