After the death of beloved American designer Oscar de la Renta in October 2014, all eyes were on the late, great American designer’s successor. Peter Copping was hand-picked by de la Renta in his final days, and helmed the brand for just two years before exiting in July this year. At the same time, two of de la Renta’s former employees — design director Laura Kim and design assistant Fernando Garcia — were building their own thriving fashion empire. Kim and Garcia founded Monse after being passed over as de la Renta’s successors, debuting their initial collection to enthusiastic reviews and near-immediate success. In a New York Times profile of the young brand, it has low-key been announced that Monse won’t be the only thing keeping Kim and Garcia busy. They’ve just been appointed creative directors of the de la Renta empire.
Oscar de la Renta Chief Executive Alex Bolen said that he regrets not hiring Kim and Garcia from the outset. “I screwed that one up, in retrospect. I wish Laura had come in and pounded the table and said, ‘I want the job.’ We discussed it. But I didn’t push it enough, and I should have,” he told the Times. “With Laura and Fernando, we are family. In some incredibly important way, we’re all the students — as a professional matter, the children — of Oscar.”
Kim and Garcia will continue designing for Monse — which will stage its spring/summer 17 show in New York next week — while taking over the reigns at Oscar de la Renta’s 42nd Street atelier. Their first collection will be presented in February 2017.
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Text Hannah Ongley
Image via Instagram