Sully Bonnelly designer for the houses of Bill Blass and Eli Tahari before starting his own collection in 1998, retailing at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and other stores around the globe. Later in his career, he returned to Oscar de la Renta as creative director for the O Oscar Collection. Bonnelly, a native of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, grew up with fashion being an intrinsic part of his identity.He studied architecture at UASD before moving to New York where he graduated from Parsons School of Design and began his career in fashion as Oscar de la Renta’s
Queen Sofía Spanish Institute exhibition entitled "Balenciaga:Spanish Master". This was the first exhibition to consider the impact of Spain’s culture, history and art on one of its greatest twentieth century sons, the legendary designer Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972). Conceived of by our Chairman, Oscar de la Renta, and curated by Hamish Bowles, the exhibition drew on Balenciaga clothing and supporting historical and regional Spanish dress from museum and private collections in the United States, Canada, France and Spain. The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue focused on the influence of Balenciaga’s native country on the designer’s creative process and work, considered the influences on his designs