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On most mornings, Grand Central Terminal is a spot New Yorkers are trying to avoid, with throngs of commuters and tourists crowding the hallways. Not so today, because Vanderbilt Hall had been transformed into a reception area where the United States Postal Service would unveil a collection of 11 stamps featuring Oscar de la Renta and his beautiful designs. Emceed by Anderson Cooper, the event featured speeches by Oscar de la Renta CEO Alex Bolen, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Condé Nast’s Artistic Director and Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour, and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. For a moment, that hall in Grand Central was New York’s most elegant place with fans of Mr. De la Renta’s and admirers crowding to catch a glimpse of what are arguably the Postal Service’s loveliest stamps.
“I know Oscar would have loved these stamps. He delighted in color and pattern, in refinement and in fit, and his designs reflected his personality, optimistic and fun and sunny and romantic,” said Wintour. The collection is comprised of an Inez and Vinoodh–lensed portrait and shots from De la Renta’s runway shows including Spring 2012, Fall 2013, and De la Renta’s last collection, Spring 2015.
Though Michael Bloomberg’s remarks about trying to figure out what to wear to such a posh event garnered the most laughs—he settled on a navy suit with a purple sweater and, in a festive mood, matching purple socks—it was Hillary Clinton’s speech that got attendees on their feet. To begin, Clinton echoed Wintour’s sentiments that to be among De la Renta’s friends was one of the great highs of her life. “Anna is absolutely right in saying that when you were a friend of Oscar’s, you were a friend in good times and dark times, a friend who was lifted up and carried. And we all did our best to be that for him,” she said.
Clinton also remembered her first meeting with the designer, at the 1993 Kennedy Center Honors where she wore a burgundy velvet Oscar de la Renta dress. “Oscar goes through the receiving line and as I’m shaking his hand welcoming him to the White House, he says, ‘That’s my dress,’ ” Clinton remembered. Call it the start of one of Washington’s most fruitful friendships. In the years after, the former First Lady and the designer became deeply close, traveling to his house in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, when they could. “We had many long discussions, lots of wild card games with this game called Oh Hell that brought out simply the worst in both my husband and Oscar. They would be screaming at each other, until finally the rest of us went to bed,” she said, laughing. “But it was also a time to just relax and be with people that were generous, and loving, and warm, and kind, and funny. And perceptive. And gave so much to everyone who crossed their paths.”
Clinton, as well as Bloomberg, stressed the importance of remembering that De la Renta was an immigrant to the United States, and one who loved this country and contributed to its success. She closed her remarks with this: “In the corner of these striking stamps, it says USA Forever. Let us remember what is durable and lasting about Oscar’s legacy. Of course, it is the fashion, it is the great worldly success, but it’s also going with him to Washington Heights, going to a nightclub, and watching him dance the salsa with young people who were just starting out their lives in this great city in this blessed country. He knew what they were hoping for. He gave up his heart and his soul to make sure that his example would live on. What a fitting person to be chosen by our Postal Service, mentioned, by the way, in the Constitution. Something we should all read and reread in today’s times. Its choice of this immigrant who did so much for our country, his country, truly is what it means when we say USA forever. Who we are, what we stand for, and let there be many, many more immigrants with the love of America that Oscar de la Renta exemplified every single day.”
Here, Vogue.com looks back on the seven Oscar de la Renta dresses commemorated by the USPS.
