Vogue editor Anna Wintour pauses as she departs the memorial of of late fashion designer Oscar de la Renta in New York, November 3, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Oscar de la Renta remembered for his elegant designs, generosity

Fashion designer Oscar de la Renta dead at 82

The tall Dominican-born de la Renta dressed New York socialites, Hollywood stars and American first ladies during a career that spanned five decades.

Former US Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Hillary Clinton, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Vogue magazine Editor in Chief Anna Wintour spoke during the service at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

"It was a beautiful ceremony," said Heather Petrie, 31, a member of the choir. "It was a celebration of life" with "lots of music, an orchestra, a full choir and a soloist."

Music executive Lisa Schiff described the service as "extraordinary" as she left the church.

Designers Valentino, Diane von Furstenberg, Tommy Hilfiger and Donna Karan, director Mike Nichols and his journalist wife Diane Sawyer, newswoman Barbara Walters, photographer Annie Leibovitz and actor Hugh Jackman were among the invited guests.

Fans and photographers were kept behind police barricades that stretched a city block at the imposing church on Park Avenue.

"He was an icon and a guru of fashion and a wonderful man who changed people's lives in fashion," said 44-year-old Kim Wolfe of Manhattan as guests arrived for the service.

"His couture and his design were really created for the sophisticated lady, not necessarily of the 21th century, but of a lady that once was," she added.