Since Kim and Fernando Garcia have been named creative directors behind the glam Italian fashion house, Oscar de la Renta, they are trying their best to stay in tune with the legacy, of the late designer, and carry it into the future with continuous success. One must say that this third runway is an assured step forward for the millennial designers. The duo revisited De la Renta’s archives and welcomed party dresses in flare silhouettes and sheer lace bodices.

The pretty collection feature flower prints and intricate embroideries, including rich velvet and silk fabrics. The collection was a remembrance of when the duo worked alongside Oscar and the trip they took The Cloisters, for the Janet Cardiff sound exhibition. It was back in 2013, Oscar de la Renta insisted they accompany him to experience the installation of sound artist Janet Cardiff. “I was whining, but then, I was like, it’s amazing!” Kim said during a preview. “Magical,” Garcia recalled, “one the most amazing memories we have of him.”

And one with more tangible resonance than memory. While developing their fall fabrics, that excursion to The Cloisters came to mind, which led to some research into Elizabethan textiles and ornamentation, and from there sprung a myriad of ideas about embroideries and tapestries (yes, there’s a unicorn). By gazing far into the past (and perhaps a little at Valentino), the designers delivered their most refined and resolved effort to date for Oscar de la Renta.

The winners of the collection were the evening-wear series, especially the black velvet bodice paired with a voluminous crêpe de chine printed skirt.

Kim and Garcia are charged with bringing the house back to creative and commercial buoyancy while retaining the essence of its founder- a tough task as traditional notions of “lady dressing” continue to recede from prominence in fashion and life.

The ‘Cloisters’ inspired Oscar de la Renta AW 18/19 collection.