Sarah Jessica Parker, a close friend and frequent collaborator to designer Oscar de la Renta, penned a moving tribute to the late designer, who died on Monday.

Parker first met de la Renta in 2000, in the midst of her Sex and the City fame, and even wore the famed designer on the fashion-forward show. Throughout the years, Parker frequently wore de la Renta couture to award shows and red carpet events, including the Met Ball.

“I can’t remember how I had the courage to be friends with him – he was so otherworldly in a way,” Parker wrote in a personal essay for The Hollywood Reporter.

In her tribute, Parker recounts fun evenings spent with de la Renta during New York City’s Fashion Night Out, writing, “On every Fashion’s Night Out, I had to be at Mr. de la Renta’s store when he was there – it was planned around his arrival and his exit.”

Parker revealed that de la Renta loved to sing, and noted that he especially loved to perform during Fashion Night Out: “The first year I got there, he said, ‘Let’s sing!’ He loved singing, sang beautifully. He was a muscular singer; it was one of the things he most enjoyed. He sang with mariachi bands, he delighted in any opportunity to create a festive environment.”

SJP Recalls Wearing Oscar de la Renta At The Met Ball

Earlier this year, Parker famously wore an Oscar de la Renta gown to the Met Ball, which she also co-chaired with Anna Wintour and de la Renta himself. The black and white gown featured a long train with de la Renta’s signature embroidered in scarlet, a design choice Parker writes she came up with as a way to honor the designer.

“I promised him, if the concept was misunderstood, I wanted everyone to know this was my choice. It was something he never would have done – with his modesty, grace and elegance. But I knew the crimson signature would look magnificent on the red carpet. Then Mr. de la Renta added the black lattice work up the back of the gown – an homage to Charles James – and I said, ‘Oh my God, of course!’ It was so Oscar de la Renta!”

“It was really, really fun and thrilling to wear that gown that night. The point of the signature, and doing it in scarlet instead of his traditional navy, was to honor him – to scream it from the rooftop without opening my mouth. This is a man who spent the last 50 years building dresses. He’s singular. And that night I wanted to say thank you and pay tribute to him and convey my gratitude for his work and for the personal relationship he allowed me to have with him,” Parker wrote.

Parker also offered her condolences to de la Renta’s family, friends, and co-workers, and affirming her belief that there will never be another Oscar de la Renta.

“The reality of his absence means a momentous shift. There are wonderfully talented designers, emerging and upperclassmen, but he really was singular, and he has left a vacuum….All I can think today is, ‘That’s it. That’s done, that extraordinary moment in time that he created.’”

Finally, Parker concluded, “It also needs to be said that there was no one more handsome.”