Just last year, the United States Postal Service paid tribute to Jaime Escalante – the Bolivian-born educator immortalized by Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver – with his own Forever stamp. In mid-February, USPS honored another prominent Latino: Oscar de la Renta. This time, the agency dedicated 11 stamps to the Dominican fashion designer. One includes OdlR’s image, and the rest feature some of his most iconic designs.
“The Postal Service is proud to honor Oscar de la Renta for his genius and pioneering leadership in the fashion industry,” said Janice Walker, vice president of Corporate Communications at the USPS. “These beautiful stamps illustrate his highly polished style and tremendous skill, which helped bridge the gap between American and French designers of trend-setting fashions for women.”
In mid-February, the Oscar de la Renta fashion house held a ceremony at Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall to mark the debut of the stamps, according to NBC New York. It took place on the last day of New York Fashion Week – which coincided with A Day Without Immigrants, a national strike that showed one clear message as the White House vilifies foreign-born individuals: the United States depends on immigrant labor.
“Oscar was proud to be an American and this would have made him tremendously happy,” said Oscar de la Renta LLC Chief Executive Officer Alexander Bolen. “To commemorate his personal version of the American dream with these stamps is a great honor for which we thank the U.S. Postal Service.”
Buy the stamps here.