Oscar de la Renta — an icon of the fashion world who dressed royals and celebrities — has died at the age of 82.
The famed designer, who created a global empire with his formal wear and evening gowns, died around 8 p.m. Monday at his home in Connecticut after a long battle with cancer, a source told The Post.
Born in the Dominican Republic, the designer came into the public spotlight during the 1960s while dressing First Lady Jackie Kennedy.
De la Renta was well-known for his elegant red-carpet gowns, which were worn by stars such as Cameron Diaz, Kristen Stewart and Penelope Cruz.
“I’m so sad,” fellow designer Tommy Hilfiger told The Post Monday night. “Oscar was an inspiration to me as an American fashion designer. He was a true gentleman. Oscar had taste and class like no other. I will always be inspired by him.”
A skilled craftsman, he recently appeared in a Vogue fashion spread with George Clooney’s wife, Amal, who was wearing his stunning white lace wedding gown.
Canadian supermodel Coco Rocha remembered the icon on social media Monday night.
“Today fashion lost one of the greatest couturier of the last century,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’m forever grateful to have had a chance to wear his creations.”
He became a US citizen in 1969 and was the first American to become the top designer of a French fashion house.
His style was described as a mix of European luxury clothing and American casual wear.
“He makes a woman look like a woman, feel like a woman,” designer Diane von Furstenberg once said about him.
“He has that old-fashioned elegance, and yet he’s able to interpret it in such a modern way.”
Archduchess Maria of Austria wore a de la Renta gown for her 1996 wedding and Queen Noor of Jordan was photographed in his designs for Vogue in 2003.
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg once said his designs “have been to more award shows than Meryl Streep.”
Hillary Clinton introduced a recent retrospective of his designs, saying, “His name alone evokes elegance and timeless beauty. And his designs give each of us a chance to feel like we’re special, too.”
He dressed first ladies such as Kennedy and Nancy Reagan.
In 2001, he dressed Laura Bush in a silver long-sleeved gown for George W. Bush’s inauguration, and Hillary Clinton in a gold cape over a gold long-sleeve gown for the 1997 presidential inaugural ball.
“I still remember when Hillary walked out in that gown,” former President Bill Clinton said in the video tribute.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s beautiful.’ I still think it’s probably the best gift Oscar ever gave us, beyond his friendship.”
Michelle Obama donned a de la Renta dress at a White House cocktail party this month after snubbing him for years after he chided her for her choice of clothing for a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II in 2009.
With Post Wire Services