Under Bolen’s stewardship, Oscar de la Renta has evolved from a heavily licensed U.S. designer business to a global force specializing in beautifully crafted ready-to-wear. Next on the road map? A store in Paris, and possibly a menswear line.
Alex Bolen became CEO of Oscar de la Renta in July 2004, when he was 36, and the company was a $650-million business with no stores and quite a number of licenses.
The De la Renta’s business has changed dramatically. Ahead of the house’s fall show, Fashionista spoke with Bolen by phone about the company’s transformation over the past 11-and-a-half years, why he’s not obsessed with chasing younger customers and what it’s like to work with de la Renta’s creative successor, Peter Copping, who celebrated his one-year anniversary on the Oscar runway yesterday.
“I think in other parts of the world, notably Europe, the Middle East and Asia, there’s a lot more we can do with the product as it exists today. Places like Japan, where we have typically not had business, are now generating important business.
We have some business plans that we are working on. After Oscar passed away, I read some list that he was the seventh most elegant man in the world. I thought, I’m going to jump out of a window if we don’t find a way to bring this to our business. Menswear happens to be an important category right now I think that men are spending more.
Sleepwear and intimate apparel are other areas where our brand’s aesthetic could make some sense. I look at things a company like Spanx is doing. We could bring a more elevated approach to shapewear in our own product line. But if we don’t figure out the right way to do them we won’t do them.” Alex told Fashionista
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Wonderful photos, stunning outfit!