AssataSAYS.com

Earlier today, BagSnob.com set up a public chat with fashion designer Oscar De La Renta. I didn’t find out about it until right before the chat started. As soon as it did, I decided to check it out and see what everyone was talking about.

I ended up jumping in the game and asking a few questions myself.  Unfortunately, due to a few crashes during the chat session and a conflicting schedule for De La Renta, the chat had to be rescheduled. Before it all ended, I did get to ask a few questions. To see what Mr. De La Renta had to say, look below…

AssataSAYS: Hello Mr. De La Renta. I graduated from the HS of Fashion Industries in NY and I go back to speak to the students often. Do you have any advice for the young students there looking to pursue a career in design?

OscardelaRenta: my best advice would be to develop your craft, one way to do this is to work alongside of someone with experience

AssataSAYS: I have another question for the HS of Fashion Industries students. Many of the marketing (or non-design) students get discouraged because the school only highlights the work of the students who are design or art majors. Do you have any words for how important marketers and merchandisers are to you, your company, and/or the fashion industry?

OscardelaRenta: fashion is a business

OscardelaRenta: of course, it always starts with the design, the product

OscardelaRenta: but equally, without marketing and merchandising and getting your message out there, you wouldnt have a business

OscardelaRenta: I always say fashion is not what happens on the runway, it is what happens when a woman buys your clothes

AssataSAYS: Thank you so much for that. I can’t wait to share your responses with the students. Also, the Dominican Republic is a BEAUTIFUL place. I visited for a week early in October. Wonderful weather!

Earlier in the conversation, someone else asked him where he travels to the most and he said his home in Connecticut and his birthplace, the Dominican Republic.

AssataSAYS: We’ve been told over and over again that at the moment, this isn’t the best economy. Do you think there is ever a RIGHT time to pursue a career anywhere in the fashion industry (or any other artistic industry) that isn’t showing as much financial growth overall as usual?

AssataSAYS: I ask because I am not working in fashion at the moment but am eager to get back into it. I am a little afraid because this would be a difficult time to take a chance on switching careers and fail financially. But, I don’t enjoy the work I’m doing now.

OscardelaRenta: i think that if you do what you love, success will follow

AssataSAYS: Have you ever considered doing a line with lower price points like those of Jimmy Choo or Karl Lagerfeld for H&M?

OscardelaRenta: we have no plans right now to do a lower priced collection

OscardelaRenta: it would be very hard to do what I do at a lower price point - we use the finest fabrics and materials and many hours of work goes into each piece. many of the things I do are handmade.

Oscar De La Renta agreed to do a giveaway with BagSnob.com. BagSnob said that he’d give away his favorite bag. In the beginning of the chat, he talked a lot about the Python Taylor, one of the hobos from his current collection. This is the one that will be given away.

For updates on the next chat session and information on the giveaway, you can follow BagSnob here on twitter.

ALSO: If anyone decides to use pieces of information from this post, please link back to this post. Thank you.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 2:06 pm and is filed under FASHION, TECHNOLOGY. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.