Oscar de la Renta brands fashion editor a 'stale three-day-old hamburger' after she insults his catwalk show

  • The attack was in response to an article by Cathy Horyn, in which she called the designer 'a hot dog'
  • Mr de la Renta took out a full-page ad in trade title WWD to publish his open letter retaliation

By Tamara Abraham

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Fast food and fashion are not natural bedfellows, but hamburgers and hot dogs were the insults of choice today, in a war of words between Oscar de la Renta and a top editor.

Fashion critic, Cathy Horyn, wrote in the New York Times yesterday: 'Mr de la Renta is far more a hot dog than an éminence grise of American fashion.'

But today, the designer, 80, hit back with an open letter, published as a full-page ad in trade publication WWD, in which her retaliated by calling her 'a stale 3-day old hamburger'.

Cathy Horyn
Oscar de la Renta

Fast food at dawn: New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn (left) called Oscar de la Renta (right) a 'hot dog'. He retaliated by branding her a 'stale hamburger'

A hotdog? Oscar de la Renta watches as supermodel Karlie Kloss walks his finale look down the catwalk at New York Fashion Week on Tuesday

A hot dog? Oscar de la Renta watches as supermodel Karlie Kloss walks his finale look down the catwalk at New York Fashion Week on Tuesday

He argued that Ms Horyn's remark was a personal attack, and advised her to criticise the clothes, not the people behind them.

 

His letter read: 'I respect and accept criticism because in many ways it does help us develop; I try to make my work better each time.

OSCAR DE LA RENTA'S LETTER TO CATHY HORYN

Dear Cathy,

This year I celebrated my 80th birthday. With pride, I can say that for more than 50 of those years I have been privileged to work in a profession that I deeply love, one that has given me tremendous pleasure. I have always considered that my role as a designer and as a great admirer of women has always been to make a woman look and feel her very best.

I respect and accept criticism because in many ways it does help us develop; I try to make my work better each time. What I do not accept is when criticism is personal. If you have the right to call me a hot dog why do I not have the right to call you a stale 3-day old hamburger? My advice to you is to abstain from personal criticism. Professionals criticize the clothes, not the people.

Oscar de la Renta

'What I do not accept is when criticism is personal. If you have the right to call me a hot dog why do I not have the right to call you a stale 3-day old hamburger?'

Many in the industry believe Mr de la Renta's reaction to be excessive, not least Ms Horyn herself.

She told Fashionologie today: 'I used the term in a professional context, as someone showing off his tricks, like a surfer.

'I thought an ad was a little over-the-top.'

The website goes on to explain her remark further, adding: 'Hotdogging was coined as a surfing term in the '50s and generally described surfing "for flash rather than function."'

Indeed, she had plenty to say about Mr de la Renta's designs to that effect.

She wrote in her original article: 'After bead-quivering jackets and neon-bright skirts, he sent out white lace with black pencil-like scribbles.

'It was wonderfully cantankerous, a good bit of window-dressing for the gooey stuff that followed.'

oscar de la renta

Defence: Mr de la Renta argued that Ms Horyn's remark was a personal attack, and advised her to criticise the clothes, not the people behind them

The spat follows an earlier attacks from Mr de la Renta, who, with a number of other big-name designers, was omitted from Ms Horyn's 'must-see' list, published in the New York Times at the start of Fashion Week.

He said in Wednesday's WWD: 'It bothers me because I love my industry, and I love fashion. I think fashion is something of beauty and it really makes me mad when someone writes about fashion in a bitter way.'





 

The comments below have not been moderated.

Man is a pure class

Click to rate     Rating   16

thin skin, Oscar?

Click to rate     Rating   8

She's a bully.

Click to rate     Rating   39

good for him. looking at her own dress sense, not sure if she really knows anything about style.

Click to rate     Rating   35

Oscar de la Renta will be remembered for a long, long time. Not so Miss....uh....Miss...???

Click to rate     Rating   49

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