Embellishment and Embroidery at Oscar de la Renta: A Season-by-Season Study (2023–2025)

From red carpet gowns to runway coats, embroidery has always been a central part of Oscar de la Renta’s visual language. But in recent years, this embroidery has evolved. Between 2023 and 2025, under the direction of co-creative directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia, the house has pushed embellishment beyond tradition — introducing sculptural textures, playful motifs, and new materials, while still staying true to the elegance the brand is known for.

Kim and Garcia, who worked closely with Oscar himself before launching their own label Monse, have brought both respect for heritage and an eye for modern relevance. Their use of embroidery isn’t just decorative — it’s structural, conceptual, and often the starting point for entire looks.

This article offers a season-by-season analysis of how they’ve approached embroidery and embellishment over the last three years — from technical developments to shifting visual strategies. For artists and textile specialists, it's a practical, detailed look at surface design inside a high fashion context.

Spring 2023

Oscar de la Renta’s Spring 2023 collection offered a rich study in botanical embellishment. Embroidery ranged from realistic beadwork florals to bold, sculptural 3D appliqués. Sequins, glass beads, and layered fabric petals brought hydrangeas, daisies, and roses to life across short silhouettes. Alongside sheer printed organza and laser-cut leather details, the collection balanced softness and structure, offering a modern take on garden glamour without compromising the house’s love of hand-finished surface design.

Pre-Fall 2023

Oscar de la Renta’s Pre-Fall 2023 brought maximalist elegance to the forefront through intricate embellishment. From a crystal-encrusted radial net gown to layered metallic florals embroidered across sheer capes and gowns, the collection celebrated drama and precision. Floral motifs appeared both in tonal appliqué and in high-shine sequins, while starry beadwork and embroidered tailoring added contrast. Techniques ranged from sculptural laser-cut overlays to densely hand-applied beads — each garment built as much from surface as from silhouette.

Fall 2023

Oscar de la Renta’s Fall 2023 embroidery work is defined by the interplay between dense surface design and sheer foundations. Techniques range from lace-mimicking tambour fills to sculptural appliqué and sequinned grids. Rich botanical motifs — both realistic and abstract — dominate, while precision appliqué and stitch consistency reveal couture-level control. Embroidery is not an embellishment here, but the structural and visual core of the garments, integrated across tulle, knits, and accessories alike.

Spring 2024

Oscar de la Renta’s Spring 2024 collection showcases embroidery not as surface detail but as structural and narrative design. Oversized poppies dominate — layered, padded, and corded — appearing on everything from sheer mesh to chunky knits. Dimensional appliqué and large-scale sequin work create bold silhouettes with botanical flair. From embroidered tulle dresses to yarn-based crochet accents, the collection explores tension between sculptural embellishment and body-revealing transparency — executed with precise appliqué placement and embroidery layouts integrated into each garment’s structure.

One particular look from this collection — floral, sculptural, and embroidered on sheer base — directly inspired my own textile work. It led to the development of my Gladiolus-Inspired Textile Composition course, where I explore similar themes through wearable embroidery. If you're curious how runway concepts can be translated into practical surface design, you can find the course here.

Pre-Fall 2024

The Pre-Fall 2024 collection by Oscar de la Renta refines its embroidery language through high-contrast materials and sculptural surface techniques. Oversized sequined florals dominate, applied with sharp-edged precision to sheer bases for maximum impact. Metallic gridwork introduces a couture-meets-armor sensibility, while soutache-like gold embroidery and botanical appliqués on lace soften the narrative. The collection prioritizes architectural layout, precise edge treatment, and the interplay of opacity and transparency — showcasing embroidery as structural design, not mere decoration.

Fall 2024

In Fall 2024, Oscar de la Renta embraced embroidery as both ornament and structure. From laser-cut appliqué mimicking stained glass to sculptural sequin florals with irregular contours, the collection played with precision and light. Raised botanicals and tambour-style beading transformed sheer bases into textured landscapes, while embroidery on knitwear and accessories extended the narrative. Negative space was integral — motifs floated, vines climbed, and embellishment shaped silhouette, proving embroidery here wasn’t an addition — it was the architecture.

Spring 2025

Oscar de la Renta’s Spring 2025 collection showcases embroidery as a primary design tool — building silhouette, depth, and visual rhythm through surface work. Dense sequin florals, padded 3D roses, and corded outlines appear across sheer bases and structured forms. Gradient compositions, stained-glass effects, and embroidered knitwear expand the collection’s scope, while precise placement and technical layering reveal a controlled, design-led approach to embellishment across silhouettes.

Pre-Fall 2025

Pre-Fall 2025 continues the house’s botanical language with a focus on cherry blossoms and stylized florals. Three-dimensional appliqué and corded embroidery dominate, from cascading flower clusters to lace-like outlines on sheer bases. Beaded textures appear more restrained, while accessories echo garment motifs. With floral placement guiding silhouette and structure, and strategic transparency creating contrast, this collection refines the brand’s signature embellishment approach into softer, more fluid compositions.

Fall 2025

Fall 2025 continues the house’s floral signature with a more restrained tone. Embroidery techniques are refined and textural — appliqué blooms on tailoring, tonal cutwork on navy dresses, and delicate crystal accents on gowns. Sequins appear in graphic, print-like layouts or as subtle highlights. Decorative elements extend to bags and outerwear, creating cohesion across looks. The contrast between embellishment and everyday fabrics like denim and wool adds a modern, wearable edge.

Across these nine seasons, Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia have used embellishment — including embroidery — not simply as decoration, but as a consistent design strategy to shape the identity of Oscar de la Renta. Certain garments can be identified as theirs without needing a label. While the techniques remain consistent — 3D florals, layered appliqué, sequin and corded motifs — the visual language evolves: new colors, symbols, and silhouettes are introduced each season to reflect trends or initiate them.

Floral motifs remain a constant, but never static. What changes is the scale, mood, material, or placement. Embellishment becomes the signature, and craft — especially handwork — is a defining value. Even when broader fashion trends enter the conversation (such as the “broken glass” aesthetic), the house reinterprets them through its own lens, guided by cohesion and surface fluency.

What these collections illustrate is how embellishment, when treated as an integral design tool, builds not only garments — but recognition, intention, and narrative. It doesn’t serve function. It expresses identity.