Diana, Princess of Wales
The garment, which featured Diana, Princess of Wales, was bought at a US auction for more than eleven times its estimated price
An evening dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales in 1985 sold for nearly $1.15 million at a Hollywood auction – more than 11 times the estimate and a record price for one of her dresses.
Moroccan-British fashion designer Jacques Azagury's black and blue velvet ballerina evening dress sold for a total of $1,148,080 (£907,000) at Julien's Auctions in Hollywood.
The Jacques Azagury ballerina-length evening dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales. Photo: Valérie Macon/AFP/Getty Images
The garment, which Diana wore to a dinner at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence during a royal tour with her then-husband Charles, was expected to sell for $100,000.
The outfit, which featured shoulder pads, a blue organza skirt, a large bow and a sash, is now by far the most expensive dress worn by the late king at auction. The previous record holder, a 1991 velvet dress by Victor Edelstein, fetched $604,800 in January.
The identity of the buyer of the Azagury dress, which was accompanied by a matching illustration, is unknown.
Diana wore the dress to a dinner hosted by the mayor of Florence in April 1985 and again to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 1986. The ballerina skirt, according to the auctioneer, was considered a “reference to Diana's love of dance and her nature.” English National Ballet”.
It was sold Sunday evening at an event called “Julien's Auctions and Turner Classic Movies Present: Hollywood Legends.” It was described in the catalog as a “beautiful, romantic ballerina-length evening dress.”
It said: “With padded shoulder pads, a black velvet bodice with embroidered stars made of metallic threads from Jakob Schlaepher fabric and a two-tiered royal blue organza skirt with sash and bow.” Diana wore numerous dresses and gowns from Azagury. One of her favorite pieces was an ice blue silk georgette minidress that she wore to the Royal Albert Hall on June 3, 1997 for a performance of Swan Lake.”
Azagury was introduced to Diana in the 80s by then British Vogue editor Anna Harvey. “She said, 'Jacques, I want to introduce you to someone,' and I looked and Princess Diana was standing there,” Azagury says on his website.
Azagury described Diana's trips to his Knightsbridge studio: “Her visits were very relaxed, she enjoyed chatting to the girls here. She didn’t ask me to design specific dresses for her, she knew she could come here and find something she would like and that we could customize it and create a unique dress for whatever occasion she needed.”
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