Monse & Oscar de la Renta: The Designer Duo Rewriting Luxury

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Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia didn’t start out together — their journeys are distinct, but what brought them to the same creative table is what makes their work so special.

• Laura Kim was born in Seoul, Korea. Her childhood was steeped in textiles (her parents were textile manufacturers) and she always had fashion in her blood. She moved to New York, studied at Pratt Institute (BFA in Fashion), and then started her long career at Oscar de la Renta, working her way up over many years.
   
• Fernando Garcia is Dominican-born. He was drawn to the creative field at an early age, and his love of drawing on napkins led him to study architecture at the prestigious Notre Dame. Upon graduation, he took his love for art and architecture into fashion. He moved to New York and interned at Oscar de la Renta.
   

They met and started collaborating inside Oscar de la Renta’s design world, absorbing the legacy, craftsmanship, eveningwear, and also the values: listening, refining, elegance.
 

In 2015, Kim and Garcia launched Monse: young, bold, less bound by traditional formality. Monse became known for deconstructed menswear elements, creative tailoring, asymmetric cuts, an irreverent yet elegant energy. 

Then, in 2016, the luxury house Oscar de la Renta tapped them as Co-Creative Directors — to helm the brand’s ready-to-wear, bridal, childrenswear, accessories, etc. It was a big leap, but one built on their long working history there and their demonstrated taste, balance, and ability to innovate while honoring tradition. 

Kim and Garcia make an irresistible yin-yang team:

• Laura tends toward ease, menswear references, clean lines. Fernando leans romantic, feminine, dramatic. Together, they balance the extremes so their designs feel both wearable and aspirational.
   
• Their schooling & early training (Kim at Pratt, heavy time at Oscar de la Renta; Garcia building from sketching “doodles”  and studying architecture at Notre Dame, to leading design) means they combine technical education + real-world learning.
   

Their brands reflect that: Oscar de la Renta under their direction feels more inclusive, slightly more relaxed, more modern; Monse remains the space for play, cutting silhouettes, twisted tailoring, whimsy meets sharp edge. 

Here’s where things get interesting (and a little controversial):

• In 2024, the SHEIN X MONSE collaboration dropped. It was one of Shein’s first partnerships with a luxury brand. Dresses, jackets, blouses, pants, accessories, with prices ranging from ultra cheap to still fairly affordable luxury-adjacent. Key part: Kim & Garcia didn’t just license their name — they mentored independent designers (5 of them) who worked with them under the collab.
   
• Part of the proceeds/support was tied to Dress for Success Greater New York City, a nonprofit focused on helping women enter the workforce with confidence (wardrobes, professional tools) which added a philanthropic dimension. 

• But yes, there was devout pushback: fast fashion + luxury = tension. Fans questioned whether the Monse x Shein drop diluted the brand—or if it was brilliant accessibility that aligned with modern demand. Kim & Garcia respond that inclusivity in fashion is part of Monse’s DNA, so this was intentional. 

• These two show that you can grow inside a house and then expand outward — without forgetting your roots. The time they spent at Oscar de la Renta as juniors, interns, designers built up their craft, network, discipline.
   
• They prove that contemporary luxury needs two things: heritage + relevancy. Maintaining haute craftsmanship AND speaking to modern customers (who want resonance, ethics, accessibility).
   
• The Monse x Shein collab becomes a case study: is it sell-out, or smart leverage? Either way, it pushes conversation about fashion’s reach, pricing, inclusivity, and ethics.

Laura Kim & Fernando Garcia are doing something rare: carrying legacy (Oscar de la Renta), feeding innovation (Monse), and walking in the messy space where luxury meets inclusivity. They are rewriting what it means to be “accessible luxury,” what it takes to balance craft + commerce + culture.

They’re friends, collaborators, counterparts. And they’ve built something other designers could learn from: being bold without burning bridges, making luxury feel alive, and seeing that sometimes surprising moves (a Monse x Shein drop, for instance) aren’t betrayals — they’re expansions.

Monse, Oscar de la Renta, and beyond: this duo deserves to be studied not just for what they make, but how they make it — with heart, humor, and a whole lot of style.

— Suzie