And the Oscar Goes To . . .

Oscar de la Renta Ltd. (New York) has announced plans to open a 3000-square-foot boutique in New York in November.

The store, on Madison Avenue and 66th Street, will be the fashion designer’s first freestanding retail store in the United States.

The store is located in the former Sergio Rossi space. Designed by Steve Blatz Architects (New York), it will feature Dominican coral stone and high-gloss white anigre wood as a backdrop for de la Renta’s signature women’s ready-to-wear and accessories collections. Special features in the boutique include a shoe catwalk and an eveningwear area.

“I am extremely excited about the opening of my boutique,” said de la Renta. “I am so pleased to say that we finally found the perfect home on Madison Avenue.”

“While we will likely open additional stores in the U.S., our move into freestanding retail is really part of our initiative to expand internationally,” said president and ceo Alex Bolen. “We intend to achieve ‘proof-of-concept’ in U.S. markets and then pursue European and Asian locations.” Bolen confirmed plans to open a second boutique in Las Vegas at the Wynn Resort, scheduled to open in April 2005.

The manager of the new store, Susan Mathieu, had previously been store manager at Michael Kors’ Madison Avenue location.