Diana’s $1m dress designer Jacques Azagury on why meeting the princess will always be a ‘pinch-me’ moment

Exclusive: ‘It was my first attempt to stream her line right down, simplify her... rather than frills and fuss,’ Jacques Azagury told The Independent

Azagury designed Diana’s romantic, ballerina-length dress which recently sold for $1.14m (Getty Images)

Her trailblazing style made Diana, Princess of Wales, one of Britain’s last great fashion icons.

Whether it was her short, feathered golden locks, her daring “revenge dress”, or her more understated off-duty looks, consisting of baggy varsity jumpers and lycra shorts, the peoples’ princess pushed the boundaries of sartorial expression while in and out of the royal family.

But one evening gown in particular, a romantic, ballerina-length dress embroidered with purple stars designed by Jacques Azagury, recently made fashion history of its own when it sold at a high-profile Hollywood auction for $1,143,000 (approximately £900,049) on 17 December.

Diana met her friend and fashion designer Azagury in 1985, four years into her marriage to Charles. At the time, she was 24 years old and was acclimatising to life as a senior royal. Meanwhile, the Morocco-born designer Azagury, who had just sold his first collection to London institution Brown, had magazine editors hailing him as fashion’s most exciting new talent.

Speaking to The Independent, Azagury remembers the moment he first encountered the princess whenVogue editor Anna Harvey brought her to Azagury’s stand at the London Design Trade Show. “I turned around, and there she was, which completely threw me,” he recalls. “I was very young at the time, it was all the excitement, all the feelings, all together.”

Recalling that first meeting, which evolved into a long-lasting friendship, he says Diana had “this amazing ability to make you feel completely at home within seconds”.

Three weeks later, “the people’s princess” was seated at Azagury’s store in London’s Knightsbridge, where she bought the gown, which she debuted during a royal tour of Italy in April 1985. Now, that dress is the most expensive item of Diana’s clothing ever auctioned – selling for a price 11 times higher than auctioneers had initially predicted.

Diana, Princess of Wales wore the dress in Italy in 1985 (PA )

Azagury was “absolutely delighted” when he heard the news, he says. “When you think about it, [the garment] is an iconic piece that should be considered a valuable piece of art, because – like most valuable art – it speaks of the moment, it speaks of that period.”

It is because of this, he refuses to be drawn on the original price even if he revealed the gown was bought off the rack and then fitted for Diana.

Impeccably tailored in the Eighties style, the dress’s black bodice features embroidered blue stars in metallic thread sourced from Swiss textile genius Jakob Schlaepfer. The dress also features a drop-waist and exaggerated square shoulder pads, typical of that period, and a whimsical, two-tier royal blue organza skirt, complete with a sash and bow.

It’s not just a dress, Azagury says, but instead a piece of history. “And, of course, it was worn by Princess Diana.”

Diana made her first public appearance wearing the dress at a dinner hosted by the Mayor of Florence, when Diana joined then-husband Charles for their 17-day tour of Italy.

She was also photographed wearing the dress when she attended a performance by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the Orpheum Theatre in Canada, in May 1986.

The dress that laid the foundation for Azagury’s decade-long friendship with Diana, right until her tragic death in 1997, would also mark the beginning of her style evolution.

“Until then, she was still stuck in this sort of ‘Sloane Ranger’ look, with the frilly collars, baggy blouses, and the jumper over the shoulders, which was very particular to a certain woman around the Knightsbridge area, the Sloane area, which didn’t sit that well on the international stage,” Azagury explains.

The blue-and-black outfit, reminiscent of a starry night, “was my first attempt to stream her line right down, simplify her, and make it about shape and her wearing the dress – rather than frills and fuss. That wasn’t my look anyway, and I think that’s why Diana came to me.”

The red silk georgette column dress Diana wore to the Red Cross Ball Gala dinner in Washington DC (AFP via Getty Images)

Azagury is credited with creating some of Diana’s most iconic looks, especially during – and after – her contentious split and divorce from Charles in 1996.

These include a collection of five dresses custom-made for Diana, as she embraced a more glamorous style – free from the confines of royal protocol.

Dubbed “the Famous Five”, these pieces include the long, black halterneck dress Diana wore to a gala in London in November 1995, the same night her bombshell BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir was aired.

There is also the ice-blue mini dress that Diana wore for her last official public appearance before her death, when she attended the Royal Gala performance of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall in 1997, as well as a delicate black chantilly lace gown – Azagury’s gift to the princess on her 36th birthday.

The designer created “twin” versions of these five garments, which were supposed to be auctioned earlier this month. Until recently, the dresses had been kept hidden away – apart from when Azagury would show them to friends.

“I retired five or six weeks ago...I really didn’t want the story to stop there, I wanted her legacy to be carried on [and thought] that would be a brilliant way of doing it.”

Princess of Wales (1961 - 1997) wearing ‘Black sheep’ wool jumper by Warm and Wonderful (Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty)

Before they went under the hammer, Azagury adds, he negotiated a private sale for the entire collection – complete with sketches and handwritten notes from Diana – to the Los Angeles-based Princess Diana Museum, for an undisclosed six-figure sum.

“I didn’t want one letter to go here, one card to go there, one dress to go here – I wanted everything to be kept together...That’s really why I sold them to [the museum], without going to auction, which I’m sure would have reached a much better price, but my interest was keeping the collection together.”

One of the messages from Diana to Azagury, a “thank you” note for her 36th birthday gown, reads: “I was quite overcome on opening your parcel! I am absolutely thrilled to have been given such a beautiful dress for my birthday.

“Thank you more than I can possibly say for making the day particularly special. Lots of love from Diana.”

Nearly 40 years since their meeting at a trade show in London, Azagury says, the opportunity to dress Diana remains a “pinch-me” moment.

“When I look back on it now, the whole thing seems so surreal, that I actually dressed Princess Diana, that I actually went to the palace to dress her and meet her.”