Hurray for Oscar! He makes headlines wherever he goes. Urbane and elegant, his admirers around the world applaud this soft-spoken gentleman whose fashion designs raise temperatures and whose fragrances give new meaning to emotional attachment.

Oscar De La Renta Oscar spoke to us in his cool, stark white offices many weeks before the rave reviews broke in Paris about his fall collection, his being chosen to design Mrs. Clinton's inaugural wardrobe and the sold-out million dollar Winternight gala and benefit for The Lighthouse at which he received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

We talked of the many changes in how a woman feels today about her identity and about the image she projects. "The individual is so important," Oscar mused. "When you think back to the 70's when women's lib was becoming a real force, women thought they had to dress in pants suits to make it in a so-called man's world. I think how fragile femininity is. How important it is for women to know who they are."

Oscar believes the introduction and immediate success of his namesake fragrance in 1977 was because it perfectly expressed the independent, self-assured woman who felt totally comfortable with her femininity. We naturally hoped women would embrace this fragrance, but of course, you never know. All one can do is hope for the best. We could never have realized it would be the success it became, especially since there were so many launches that year.

"At the time, I was working closely with Milton Stern. He was an extraordinary person, a perfectionist who never sacrificed quality and purity of style. We worked together very well and had a great sense of respect for each other."

Oscar, his first fragrance, won the "FiFi" in 1978 as "Fragrance of the Year." It was elected to the "Fragrance Hall of Fame" (previously the Perennial Success Award) in 1992. "Certainly," Oscar explained, "to be successful, I think the name of the designer helps in the same manner as a beautiful bottle and a beautiful bottle and a beautiful package helps. People are intrigued by a name or the look of a bottle. The importance of the snob appeal of a name diminishes, however, as a woman buys the second or third bottle. Now , she is no longer buying the designer's name, she is buying a fragrance she desires for herself. This is how she wants to smell! She has identified herself with the fragrance."

Oscar feels strongly that once a woman has created this relationship with a fragrance she should not change just for the sake of it. "Imagine changing your hair color every day. On Monday, you are a blonde and on Tuesday, a brunette, and so on. You would certainly lose your identity. I don't mean a woman should never change, because we all must evolve in life. But , a fragrance is like a signature, so that even after a woman leaves the room, her fragrance should reveal she's been there."

Oscar thinks it is very difficult to speak today about European versus American women. "The one thing that makes fashion and fragrance especially exciting is that the world is getting smaller and smaller. The woman of today is international. There are no classifications. You no longer can recognize the nationality of a woman by the way she is dressed. Lifestyle is what counts...what a woman wants to wear, what her interests are, where she likes to go and how she lives, not where.

When I started designing clothes in this country in the 60's, a woman would never buy pink if the man in her life liked blue. Today, she would make her own decision and buy pink. It doesn't mean she doesn't love that man, it is just that she is her own person."

Oscar is planning his third women's fragrance. Volupte, introduced in 1992, won him a second "FiFi." He has designed the bottle for his new creation himself. The details are still under wraps. However, he reveals that although it will be very different, women will recognize it as an Oscar de la Renta.

His future plans also include a new men's fragrance. "European and Latin men," he whispers, "always want to smell good for a woman. This attitude never used to be a part of the American mentality. But things have changed. Men in this country are definitely grooming themselves and enjoying fragrance as never before. I have worn Pour Lui ever since I introduced it in 1980. (It also won a "FiFi.") I shower, I shave, I put it on. A word of caution, however. Be careful. Restrain is important."

There is no question that Oscar loves fragrance. It is important in every facet of his life. "Fashions change and with rare exception are forgotten by the public. But the classic fragrances, like an invisible dress, endure. They are always being discovered by a new generation, and the designer's name is kept alive."

As we came to the end of our conversation. Oscar reminded me that whenever and wherever he travels, he always spends time with the people behind the counter. "If I can sell my fragrance to them, then the fragrance will be a success. I always say these people are the most important. They have the knowledge, the authority, the confidence to communicate the abstract beauty of fragrance to a woman. After all, a dress you can visualize on yourself, but fragrance must be introduced properly, with emotion and flair, so that a woman cannot resist its invisible temptations and promises."

Having observed Oscar over the years, sharing his passion for fragrance and communicating his appreciation and admiration of women with the fragrance sales specialists, I know full well the very special place he holds in his heart for them and vice versa. For those who revel in his fragrances, I believe he and his scents are totally intertwined. It's a romantic illusion that casts a spell of sensory pleasure that is recognized anywhere in the world as the empreinte of this master of the feminine persona, Oscar de la Renta.