Oscar de la Renta’s new designers reveal what has given them a clear understanding of what women want.
South Korea-born Laura Kim and Dominican Republic-born Fernando Garcia straddle a unique line. In one corner, their task is to nudge the codes of heritage house Oscar de la Renta, without sacrificing the traditions of the late designer’s métier, while on the other hand, the pair have developed their standalone signatures and rhythms at Monse.
Earning their stripes working for Oscar de la Renta, Kim from 2003 to 2015, most recently serving as the design director, and Garcia from 2009 to 2015 working his way to Senior Designer, the duo went on to found their fledgling womenswear label, Monse, which debuted during New York Fashion Week in 2015. Fast-forward, and after a 2-year hiatus, they have returned to Oscar de la Renta, this time appointed as co-creative directors in September 2016, following designer Peter Copping’s departure. From interning at Oscar de la Renta, to their desire to bring something new to the market, Kim and Garcia’s story is an aspirational one, and would not have happened if it weren’t for their motivation and hard work. The two recognise the pressures of designing in the shadow of one of fashion’s greats, but it doesn’t seem to hinder their process. In fact, it seems that working with Oscar for years prior to his passing, and with a different customer via Monse, has given them a clear understanding of what women want.
Successfully continuing with both brands, the pair showed how harmoniously the two brands can coexist, opting to show the Fall 2017 collections for both brands together, one after another. This presented some logistical juggling, punctuated by lots of shuttling between Oscar de la Renta’s expansive midtown studio and their more cramped Monse quarters on lower Broadway. Yet, on the day of the Fall 2017 show, Monse marched out first, with an opening look that will be familiar to the label’s fans, before transitioning seamlessly into the duo’s first outing at Oscar de la Renta. However, this season they split the shows, presenting their Spring Summer 2018 collection at Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries, where their points of reference were Pop Art and a trove of letters Mr. De la Renta wrote, along with thank-you notes that the young designers have received from starlets like Emma Watson and Elle Fanning. Motifs were quite literal, from the paint splatter-print button-downs and paintbrush-heel pumps to the signature prints on tailoring and huge block letters picked out in sequins on a strapless party dress. All of which showed their fresh eye for design, combined with a deep respect for the late Oscar de la Renta, under whom they worked for years, before his death in 2014.
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A baby brand in one hand, a historic label in the other, Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia have all the opportunity they could want to be a part of the new guard exploring and remoulding fashion’s universe, and we take the opportunity here to speak to them about how they are achieving this.
Tell us about how you originally come to work for Oscar de la Renta?
LAURA: Oscar was my last internship before I graduated, and I loved the atmosphere here. I loved how he was with people, and I loved how it was a family business.
FERNANDO: I started in architecture when I was young. I didn’t have the guts at the time to work in fashion, and architecture was the next best thing. A friend of a friend connected me to Oscar when I graduated school, and I showed him some sketches I had been working on. I had always wanted to be in fashion.
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How does it feel returning to a brand which you share so much history with?
LAURA: To be honest I feel like I never left.
Fernando: It feels like coming back home, to the place where we learned everything, and now it’s our turn to give back for all they did for us when we started in this city.
How do you feel that the Oscar de la Renta brand has since evolved?
LAURA: There’s definitely a little bit more of a sportiness in it. Everything’s super stretchy. Even if it looks structured, there’s a comfort level to it.
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What is your design aesthetic?
FERNANDO: Laura and I believe that today the woman needs to be comfortable. What we’re introducing into the house is a sense of versatility, evening separates, suiting, even denim to make the brand feel much more approachable for today’s woman.
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What two perspectives do you both offer to the designs, and do you think these are what makes you such a successful partnership?
FERNANDO: We toss ideas in the air. We both must like it to push it forward. We sketch separately, and we just make sure that we’re both focusing our ideas on the larger picture, eventually creating a board of all our ideas. We then filter these down and pick the favourites, building and expanding them to the max, and this is what gives the team some direction. When it comes to design, we do not have a particular division of responsibilities. I think that in other facets of the company we do divide and conquer.
How have you found the transition from your past roles at the Maison, to now being Creative Directors?
FERNANDO: It’s strange that Laura and I are in charge of perpetuating Oscar’s DNA. To be honest, I still think of myself as his lunch grabber, running down to Pret A Manger and telling him what kind of soup they have.
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You have just shown your SS18 collection, can you tell us about the inspiration behind it?
In the Spring 2018 collection, we were inspired by Oscar’s love of art and colour, featuring bright, vivid hues, paint splatters and scribble prints, and Oscar’s signature logo.
How far do you feel that you can reinvent the brand, whilst still staying true to Oscar?
FERNANDO: It has to be relevant to the times. House codes like Oscar’s are strong, but without an update for what women want to wear today, they would fall flat in the stores. This is our primary focus at Oscar coming from 2 years of developing clothes at Monse.
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Can you share with us what the new focus is for Oscar de la Renta? Is it now less about frothy evening gowns, and more focused on pants, punchy colours, and a more relaxed sensibility?
LAURA: I want our customer to be able to purchase everything she needs for her wardrobe at Oscar. Cocktail dresses and gowns, yes, but also T-shirts, jeans, and sweatpants. My personal spin will be adding a bit of a relaxed and casual attitude to the brand.
What has been your biggest Oscar de la Renta influence?
FERNANDO: His personality was one that would always make everybody work harder because of how much respect he had for his work, but also because he made you laugh at the end of each day.
LAURA: I loved working with Oscar because he was my opposite. He’d turn on the music in the middle of the day and start singing and dancing.
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During your time away from Oscar de la Renta, you set up Monse. How did you come up with the brands concept?
FERNANDO: When we first started Monse, we didn’t know what the DNA was going to be. So, once we had two or three seasons to think about it, Monse became its own entity. We developed its language with the deconstruction, the stripes, and the bold colours.
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What characteristics do the Monse and Oscar de la Renta women share? How do you balance them when they both have such different aesthetics?
LAURA: We know our client very well for both brands. There is some overlap, but they come to Monse for certain things and to Oscar for other things. And luckily, we have a defined DNA for both brands.
By Eliza Scarborough
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