Historic Sale Of Princess Diana's Fashion Is Generating ‘Huge Interest' Ahead Of Auction: ‘People Can't Get Enough Of Her'

Forbes

2 days ago

Princess Diana attends the Victor Chang Research Institute Dinner Dance during her visit to Sydney, ... More Australia.(Photo by Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images)
Princess Diana had nothing short of an iconic wardrobe—and a historic sale of pieces from the late Princess of Wales' expansive collection is set to take place later this month.
'Princess Diana's Style: A Royal Collection' will see over 200 items from Diana's wardrobe go up for grabs, including some pieces that have never been available to the public before. The sale, put on by Julien's Auctions, is the largest collection of Diana's fashion to ever go up for sale, and the landmark event will take place on Thursday, June 26 at 10 a.m. PST at the Peninsula Beverly Hills. (Though the auction will take place later this month, registration and bidding opened online late last month and is currently available to take part in.)
'We see the interest in Princess Diana—she is the mother of the future King of England, Prince William,' Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Julien's Auctions, tells me on Zoom. 'She was a style icon, a humanitarian.'
'We just see huge interest,' he adds.
Princess Diana in Chicago wearing a Versace dress and Jimmy Choo heels. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo ... More Library via Getty Images)
Julien's is no stranger to Princess Diana's clothing coming up for auction, but 'over the years we've been selling Princess Diana items one dress, two dresses at a time,' he says. Last December, one of Diana's dresses broke a world record, selling for $1.14 million—'and so we thought gosh, there really is a demand for Princess Diana,' Nolan says. 'People can't get enough of her.'
In addition to one of Diana's dresses selling for over $1.14 million, a pair of her shoes brought in $390,000 at auction. While Julien's is expecting similar success with this auction, not all items up for sale will break the bank, Nolan assures me—even convincingly persuading me to put in a bid for one of Diana's Lady Dior handbags. (It's very tempting.) Nolan says he hopes that people aren't afraid to participate in the auction because they think 'prices are out of control,' he says. 'They're not, actually. There's a lot of items [that are]
One of Princess Diana's Lady Dior handbags is going up for sale.
In addition to some of the 70 gowns Diana—at the suggestion of William—sold in June 1997 at her famous Christie's sale now coming up for auction again, there will be shoes, bags and hats available—including her honeymoon hat by John Boyd, Nolan tells me. 'That's a really special piece,' he says. In total, Julien's is estimating proceeds from the auction—a portion of which is being donated to Muscular Dystrophy U.K.—will go up to $2 million, 'but you never know,' Nolan says.
Diana was smart about fashion—she was very intentional about what she wore 'depending on what event she was attending, what message she wanted to send,' Nolan says. She was a student of fashion under Anna Harvey, a former editor at British Vogue, and Catherine Walker, one of Diana's favorite designers throughout her life in the public eye. 'She learned from them and she learned how to dress,' Nolan says. 'Her fashion always made a statement. She's a style icon, and her outfits were timeless. People are still fascinated with her, and they will show up to see items that she wore.'
'She's a rock star in her own right,' he adds.
One of Princess Diana's Versace dresses that is included in the auction this month.
Speaking of being a rock star, ahead of the June 26 auction in Beverly Hills, items from the collection have been on tour around the world as a preview of the sale, from stops at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle to New York City to London to Newbridge, Ireland at The Museum of Style Icons. Items in the auction extend beyond clothing, too—from personal notes to Christmas cards. 'This auction is for everybody,' Nolan says. 'We have items at every price point.'
One item you won't find in this auction, or any other? Diana's winter coats. Though she lived in a chilly climate and certainly had her fair share of outerwear, she gave it all away. 'We never see any coats come to auction from Diana,' Nolan tells me. 'She always gave her coats away to the homeless. That's how amazing she was.' Diana was 'incredibly generous, always giving—she had an abundance of stuff, and she didn't take that for granted,' he continues, adding that in addition to the homeless, she'd also give her belongings away to friends and folks who worked with her. Some of those items have ended up in this auction, he says. 'Some of them wore the items and now they realize, 'Wow, these are really expensive items that people would want,'' Nolan says of one way the auction's over 200 pieces were sourced.
Princess Diana in Argentina. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
One of Diana's most well-known dresses—dubbed the 'Caring Dress'—will be up for auction through Julien's. Diana wore the Bellville Sassoon dress, with its bold colors and floral print, at least nine times—mostly to royal engagements that needed an uplift in locations from Australia to India to the U.K., Spain and Nigeria.
'That's the nice thing about Diana—she was the first royal family member that we would see repeat outfits, and she was already conscious of sustainability and affordability and not appearing always glitz and glamour and princess-y,' Nolan says. 'She was approachable and huggable and the colors [of the Caring Dress]—kids loved all those colors. And so that made her the People's Princess, if you will.'
Princess Diana in the "Caring Dress" while visiting Lagos, Nigeria in March 1990. (Photo by Jayne ... More Fincher/Princess)
Other recognizable items of clothing up for sale include a yellow flower Bruce Oldfield dress, worn to Royal Ascot in June 1987, or a Catherine Walker creation made for Diana ahead of a royal visit to the United Arab Emirates, featuring falcons because the falcon is a symbol for the country. Of this particular dress, Nolan says, 'it's a beautiful, beautiful dress—one of my favorites.' That dress was part of the 1997 Christie's auction, 'and this is the first time it's come back to auction 28 years later,' he adds.
'What's interesting is each piece tells a story, and that's what we're selling, really, is the story and the memory,' Nolan says.
Princess Diana's falcon dress by one of her favorite designers, Catherine Walker.
If Diana's collection isn't enough, the Julien's sale will also include other pieces from members of the British royal family, including couture garments from the former King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson—known as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor after their controversial marriage—as well as pieces from Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother. 'The royal family, I think, were always fashion icons, if you will,' Nolan says. 'People were always curious to see what Queen Elizabeth was wearing and how she was color coordinated. And then Princess Margaret, who was the fun member of the royal family—she was always dressed beautifully. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor—both of them in their own right were true fashion icons.'
Nolan anticipates interest from all over the world—North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, for starters—to turn out for the auction: 'She's a global icon,' Nolan says. In addition to private bidders, museums will place bids, as well as investors, because people see Diana memorabilia as an asset. 'They say, 'Okay, I buy this today. In five years' time, I'll sell it for more than what it sells for today,'' Nolan tells me. 'It's going to be harder and harder to get items from Princess Diana.' He points to the fact that items sold in 2010 and 2014, for example, have 'soared' in valuation since then.
'People have a love affair with Princess Diana,' Nolan says. 'I don't see that ever fading.'
Princess Diana waves to an enthusiastic crowd in Chicago. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via ... More Getty Images)
Eloise Moran, the author of The Lady Di Look Book: What Diana Was Trying to Tell Us Through Her Clothes and the new Substack Revenge Looks, calls Diana 'the original influencer.' Moran tells me that it's difficult to put Diana's fashion into a box 'because I think she went through so many different eras. And I think what's so interesting about her sense of style is it's really sort of synonymous with her growth as a woman and kind of this idea of discovering herself and discovering who she is and refining her sense of style and experimenting.'
'I think you can even see in some of the pieces in the auction, you've got some of the '80s slightly more prim looks,' she continues. 'You've got the very feminine Bellville Sassoon floral dress, which is quite iconic. And then you've got these lovely court shoes and pumps and these big brim hats. And then you do have a few pieces later which kind of delve into a more slightly freer, definitely sensual and then cooler '90s looks.' She adds of Diana's style, 'I truly think there's something for everyone, and that's why she just stays so relevant. It's like this never-ending treasure chest of looks.'
'She was just so iconic,' Moran tells me, yet she 'was so relatable for someone of her status and her situation. And I think people really recognized that during the time and wanted to emulate that.' Even 28 years after her death, people still 'appreciate her so much as a woman and as a person and what she stood for and what she went through,' Moran says. 'And I think that relatability still stands, but she's reinterpreted for the modern day.'
Beyond the items in the collection, Nolan hopes this sale will also celebrate the woman who wore them. 'That's why we're having this huge auction,' Nolan says. 'We're celebrating her amazing life and career, but also telling the story—preserving her legacy—because we need more people like Princess Diana in years to come.'