A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Oscar de la Renta (seen above), who died in October 2014 aged 82, was one of the world’s leading fashion designers for more than 50 years. And his work has been commemorated by the United States Postal Service with a stamp series, to be released next month. Born in the Dominican Republic in 1932, de la Renta was apprenticed with Spanish Basque fashion designer Cristobal Balenciaga, before moving to Paris to work at the fashion house Lanvin.

In 1963 he moved to New York to design the couture collection for Elizabeth Arden, and two years later he launched his own label, known for its ornate embroidery, sumptuous fur, floral motifs and hint of the exotic – as seen on the stamps below. The coming USPS issue prompted us to look back at previously printed stamps featuring fashion and famous designers as a topic. Below is a selection of fashion stamps held in stock here at PostBeeld.

Juozas Statkevicius is Lithuania’s most prominent fashion designer, well-known far beyond the borders of the Baltic States. In fact, he is the first designer from the Baltics to present his haute couture collections in Paris (in 2001 and 2002) and the first Lithuanian who has made appearance on the glossy pages of Elle and Vogue fashion magazines. Statkevicius designs are available in New York, London and Tokyo and such stars as Bjork, Kyra Sedgwick and Naomi Watts wear them. Singapore, joint issue with France 2013 Above, Great Britain 2012, featuring designs from Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen. The set also celebrates 60s fashion by Ossie Clark and his contemporary Tommy Nutter, whose Ringo Starr suit is shown on the fifth stamp (top). Additionally, designs from Hardy Amies, who had his own fashion business and in 1955 received a royal warrant as dressmaker to Queen Elizabeth II, and Norman Hartnell – who began working in fashion in the years before World War Two. He too received a Royal Warrant to dress both the Queen and the Queen Mother, and the Queen was often photographed wearing his designs. 2010, Ireland, honouring internationally known Irish fashion designers who work under their own name and label. There have been hundreds of other fashion-related stamps released over the years but we finish with one issued by France in 1955 to celebrate the success of exporting French haute couture products.