Oscar de la Renta Brings Pre-Fall 2026 to Fortaleza Ozama in Santo Domingo
- DAAS2R
- Dec 25, 2025
- 2 min read
A 60th-anniversary runway show built around a Dominican setting, an all-Dominican cast, and a live Boléro score.
Under co-creative directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia, Oscar de la Renta’s Pre-Fall 2026 collection leaned into warmth and texture: hand-painted landscapes, sun-faded earth tones, palm motifs, and rich surfaces that referenced the Dominican Republic without slipping into costume. The clothes felt grounded, tactile, and designed to live beyond the setting that inspired them.
That setting was not incidental. To mark the house’s 60th anniversary, Oscar de la Renta staged a runway show in Santo Domingo’s Colonial City, choosing the historic Fortaleza Ozama as the venue. The choice pointed back to origin: before the brand became closely associated with red carpets and society dressing, Oscar de la Renta’s story began in the Dominican Republic.
Sound carried the evening as much as the clothes. An all-Dominican cast walked to a live performance of Ravel’s Boléro by the Dominican National Symphony Orchestra, using the work’s slow-build structure to shape the pacing of the show.
Before the runway began, the event opened with a short film reflecting on the brand’s history, setting the tone for a program that treated the anniversary as a return to place rather than a retrospective exercise.
After the show, guests moved through a sequence of immersive spaces inspired by Oscar’s personal retreats across the Dominican Republic, with live performances and details that placed emphasis on culture. The format was closer to a constructed experience than an after-party: fashion, music, food, and memory presented side by side.
For a milestone season, the message was clear in execution: a house can acknowledge where it comes from without turning it into costume, and it can honour heritage by making the setting part of the work—not just the backdrop.
