Oscar de la Renta funeral: Anna Wintour, Hillary Clinton and Hugh Jackman bid final farewells to the designer

The legendary designer was remembered by New York’s elite yesterday

(Getty Images)

The fashion industry celebrated the life of Oscar de la Renta at his funeral in New York yesterday.

The legendary, much-loved designer died on 20 October after a long-term battle with cancer, aged 82.

His funeral was attended by a mix of designers, fashion editors, photographers, actors and former US Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Hillary Clinton.

Among guests were Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, Valentino Garavani, Diane von Furstenberg, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang, Donna Karan, Mike Nichols, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, Annie Leibovitz, Julio Iglesias, Matthew Broderick and Hugh Jackman.

The service was held at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on Manhattan's Upper East Side and speakers included Wintour, Bloomberg, Kissinger and Clinton.

“It was a beautiful ceremony,” said Heather Petrie, a member of the choir, told Reuters. “It was a celebration of life” with “lots of music, an orchestra, a full choir and a soloist.”

Well-wishers and photographers were held behind police barricades as the service took place.

The designer, who was born in the Dominican Republic, enjoyed a career that spanned five decades. He built a reputation for his feminine, romantic and glamorous designs worn by US First Ladies, as well as actresses, models and socialites.

De la Renta was also known for his philanthropy. In 1982 he established La Casa del Nino for underprivileged children in the Dominican Republic.

“We are eternally grateful for the work that Oscar de la Renta did, he was a true gentleman, a true philanthropist,” Candida Montilla de Medina, the First Lady of the Dominican Republic, told reporters after the funeral ended.