page_title: Dominican Republic
section_title: Fashion
hierarchical_section_title: Dominican Republic / Culture / Fashion
caption_attribution_description: English: fashion designer Oscar de la Renta during a visit to Madrid, Spain. Portrayed by foto di matti in the Hotel Ritz. www.foto-di-matti.com
context_page_description: The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti, making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area at 48,671 square kilometers, and third by population with approximately 10.5 million people, of whom approximately 3.3 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. The official language of the country is Spanish.
  The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola before the arrival of the Europeans, dividing it into five chiefdoms. The Taíno people had eventually moved north over many years, and lived around the Caribbean islands. The Taíno natives had done quite well for themselves and were on their way to being an organized civilization. Christopher Columbus explored and claimed the island, landing here on his first voyage in 1492.
context_section_description: The country boasts one of the ten most important design schools in the region, La Escuela de Diseño de Altos de Chavón, which is making the country a key player in the world of fashion and design. Noted fashion designer Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic in 1932, and became a US citizen in 1971. He studied under the leading Spaniard designer Cristóbal Balenciaga and then worked with the house of Lanvin in Paris. By 1963, he had designs bearing his own label. After establishing himself in the US, de la Renta opened boutiques across the country. His work blends French and Spaniard fashion with American styles. Although he settled in New York, de la Renta also marketed his work in Latin America, where it became very popular, and remained active in his native Dominican Republic, where his charitable activities and personal achievements earned him the Juan Pablo Duarte Order of Merit and the Order of Cristóbal Colón. De la Renta died of complications from cancer on October 20, 2014.
caption: Dominican native, fashion designer and perfume maker Oscar de la Renta
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