Fernando Garcia, Monse and the Dominican Lineage After Oscar

Fernando Garcia's Dominican Fashion story begins with a useful contradiction: he did not train first as a Fashion designer.

CFDA identifies Garcia as Dominican-born and describes an upbringing that moved between the Dominican Republic and northern Spain. He studied architecture at the University of Notre Dame, then entered Fashion through an internship at Oscar de la Renta.

At Oscar, Garcia advanced through the design organization. After leaving, he and Laura Kim founded Monse in 2015, a New York label known for deconstructed shirting and tailoring. In 2016 they returned to Oscar de la Renta as co-creative directors while continuing Monse.

That arrangement changed in 2025 when the designers announced they would leave Oscar after nine years in the top creative role. By September 11, 2026, the transition was no longer just a promise: Vogue documented Monse's Spring 2027 runway return as the label's first runway show since Kim and Garcia departed Oscar. Resort 2027 had previewed the new focus; Spring 2027 made the post-Oscar chapter public on the runway.

WSD should resist an easy mistake. Monse is not a Dominican brand simply because Garcia is Dominican-born. It is a New York label co-founded by Garcia and Kim. The Dominican relevance belongs to the designer's biography, transnational career and connection to Oscar de la Renta.

That distinction makes the story stronger. Dominican Fashion in the diaspora is not always a visual language of national symbols. Sometimes it is a designer carrying experience, education and professional lineage into an American brand that speaks its own language.

Garcia's post-Oscar chapter is now visibly underway. That makes him useful for WSD now: the story is not only about heritage, but about what a Dominican-born designer builds after leaving one of the houses most associated with Dominican Fashion memory.