I met Oscar de la Renta! Okay... I met him for a millisecond but it was an encounter nonetheless and I got a picture with him (insert happy fashion dance here).

The highly renowned fashion designer was in Toronto on Wednesday to introduce his newest fragrance, Live in Love sold exclusively at the Bay. Mr. de la Renta’s appearance at the Bay’s Queen Street store consisted of a brief sit-down interview with Fashion Television host, Jeanne Beker and an autograph session with the public.

To say that I was looking forward to this occasion in the days leading up to the event would be an understatement. I hold fashion designers in high regard because of their talent, perseverance and ability to translate their vision of beauty into clothes; designers of Mr. de la Renta’s calibre are ones I revere the most.

The conversation between Beker and de la Renta was sweet; his answers charming everyone in attendance, his words of wisdom and elegant demeanour palatable. How could he do anything but enchant the crowd? Especially, when Live in Love is described as “a fragrance for women created by a man who adores them.”

A few lines of wisdom from Oscar de la Renta:

• Oscar says “it’s important to love yourself first”
• On the success of a fragrance, “The true success of a fragrance is not when someone tells you to wear it, but when you know the fragrance projects you as an individual”
• On what makes a woman truly elegant, “Elegance is not something you are born with but it’s the discipline on how you live life... A woman believes she projects something that is unique and that she conveys a message about herself... that to me is real beauty – the beauty is not how you project with your physique but the beauty you can project with you mind”