Latest news with #DavidSassoon
Daily Mail
06-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Princess Diana's 'Caring Dress' will be in the world's largest private collection of Royal memorabilia, worth a staggering £50million
It was one of the most iconic dresses in Princess Diana 's wardrobe and its bright colours meant it became a staple when she was visiting hospitals or playing with children. Created by the late fashion designer David Sassoon - who dubbed it the 'Caring Dress' - Diana wore the floral blue crepe-de-chine number seven times between her 1988 tour of Australia and her 1992 visit to the Lighthouse Project for Aids. It became so ubiquitous that on July 21, 1992, The Daily Mail described the dress as 'very endearing, very enduring'. 'Looks familiar?' it continued, 'Yes, it's that dress again.' So when museum curator Renae Plant, who shook hands with Diana in Sydney when she first wore the dress, spotted that it had come up for auction in Los Angeles she was determined to buy it. Now, a video of her jumping, dancing and falling onto the floor in excitement has gone viral after she secured the lot for £378,000 at the Peninsula Beverly Hills sale, organised by Julien's Auctions. And she hopes that the dress will be the highlight of a permanent museum she is hoping to open in London to display the world's largest private collection of Royal memorabilia, worth a staggering £50million. Last night Renae told the Daily Mail: 'I had no idea that it had gone viral as I'm still coming up for air. It hasn't hit me yet. I'm still shaking with nervous excitement. 'What you see when I fall on the ground is just pure shock and joy as I'm in disbelief that I was able to preserve the "Caring Dress" 37 years after I met her in Sydney wearing it for the very first time.' Renae, 54, who owns the interactive 3D Princess Diana Museum in Los Angeles, has more than 2,700 photographs, letters, drawings, jewellery and pieces of Diana's clothing, from her childhood at Althorp to her death in Paris in 1997. She has now teamed up with the Exhibits Developments Group to organise a global tour of her memorabilia. The Love, Life and Legacy exhibition will begin in her home city next November before touring Asia, Australia and Europe. Her husband Livinio is creating an interactive exhibition of other memorabilia, entitled Diana: The Experience, which will open in Dubai at the same time. 'My goal has always been to share it with the public,' she says. 'My mission is to put all these pieces together, not have them scattered around the world. 'I'm envisaging them all staying in one place, where they can be on a permanent display, rather than donating them to Historic Royal Palaces, which would rotate them. 'It's quite an extensive collection. We have 100 pieces of clothing worn by Diana from baby clothes to clothes she wore as a teenager as well as pieces that depict the rest of her life. 'Everywhere Diana and Charles travelled in Australia, kids came on field trips to meet them,' recalls Renae 'For so long it has just been the Christie's dresses. That was the fashion story. But this is her life story, tiny pieces from her childhood all the way through her life.' Renae first met Diana when she was a 12-year-old schoolgirl, on April 12, 1983, at the Yandina Ginger Factory in Queensland. Diana and Charles were on their first overseas tour with Prince William, setting a precedent which William and Kate have kept up to this day. 'Everywhere Diana and Charles travelled in Australia, kids came on field trips to meet them,' recalls Renae, who runs a pre-school with her husband and three children Ilan, Mateo and Deklan. 'When the royal family visited the gingernut factory in Yandina, a small rural town in Queensland, Australia, just ten minutes from my hometown of Eumundi, my school was invited to go. 'Most of the kids in my class treated it as "just another field trip" but I was beside myself with excitement. Ever since watching the Royal wedding on TV in 1981, I was enamoured by this real life fairytale. 'As Diana and Prince Charles arrived at the ginger factory, I pushed my way to the front of the crowd. Charles was on my side of the path and Diana on the other, I was really focused on getting the chance to shake her hand. 'They both stopped right in front of me, and she stopped to smell flowers that someone had given her. I had a tiny pocket camera with me and was shaking with excitement trying to capture as much as I could. 'As the rest of my class was led away, I slipped away from the group and went under ropes to sneak around the back of the factory where a big garage door was open. I stayed right there for the entire duration of lunch. 'After they finished, I found myself standing next to a group of paparazzi and I was now on the other side of the walkway from my schoolmates. 'Diana emerged from the factory on my side of the walkway, and I was the first person in line after the photographers. The Princess came directly to me, shook my hand and waited for me to say something. I was speechless. 'As Diana finished saying farewell to the people lining the exit, I went under the barricade again, now following Charles and Diana down the dirt path toward their awaiting black Rolls-Royce. 'A friend yelled out, "Renae! Diana dropped something!" I bent down and picked up a clay platypus that someone had given her. I went back to school and was in a lot of trouble for missing roll call and lunch, but it was totally worth it.' Six years later, when she was living in Sydney, Renae met the Princess again. It was January 31, 1988, and Charles and Diana were attending mass at St Andrew's Cathedral. 'It was a bloody hot, hot day and a group of friends and I were headed to Bondi Beach,' she recalls. 'I was wearing a white bikini tube top and white shorts. 'We all got off the bus at St. Andrew's Cathedral and there was a massive crowd outside. I asked someone what was going on and once I found out that Prince Charles and Princess Diana were at church for mass that day, that was it. 'I was in position to meet my princess not once, but twice in my lifetime. I quickly found a milk crate to stand on so I could see over the crowd. 'When Diana saw me, she reached up over the crowd and shook my hand. As you can imagine, that was a dream come true, and definitely the beginning of a long journey - a lifelong passion for the Princess.'
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The unexpected designer behind Princess Diana's rise to global style icon - despite a rocky start
Princess Diana understood the powerful message clothing could convey – most memorably illustrated by her bold entrance at the Serpentine Gallery in 1994. On the same night Prince Charles publicly admitted to infidelity, Diana stunned in a daring off-the-shoulder black dress by Christina Stambolian, an ensemble that would go down in history as the iconic 'revenge dress'. Throughout her life, Diana had a deep appreciation for British fashion, with a special fondness for David and Elizabeth Emanuel (creators of her wedding gown), Catherine Walker (who designed the dress she was buried in), Bruce Oldfield and Jenny Packham. Yet her style evolution began with a lesser-known name: David Sassoon, who passed away on April 9 at the age of 92. As co-founder of Bellville Sassoon, alongside Belinda Bellville, David played a key role in transforming Diana from a shy Sloane ranger into an international fashion icon. Her loyalty to him was unwavering – he designed over 70 gowns for her between 1981 and her untimely death in 1997. David was behind many memorable looks, including the ten dresses Diana selected for her honeymoon with Charles, as well as her peach going-away suit, worn as she boarded the Royal Yacht Britannia en route to Gibraltar. However, their partnership had a rocky start. Just days before her engagement was announced in 1981, Diana visited the Bellville Sassoon studio in Knightsbridge – and the reception she received was far from warm. The studio's formidable French vendeuse was unimpressed by the teenage girl browsing clothing far too sophisticated – and likely too expensive – for her. She coolly suggested that 'madam' might have better luck shopping at Harrods. Diana promptly left, feeling rather embarrassed. Only later did David and Belinda discover from another assistant that the young woman bore a striking resemblance to Lady Diana Spencer. 'We nearly had a fit,' David recalled. Fortunately, the situation was salvaged by Diana's mother, Frances Shand Kydd, who was not so easily deterred. Although Diana wore a blue Cojana suit from Harrods for her engagement announcement, it was her mother who brought her back to Bellville Sassoon to commission her wedding trousseau – securing a relationship that would become a cornerstone of the royal's style legacy. Diana chose a sailor suit from the studio's ready-to-wear collection for her first official portrait with Charles and Queen Elizabeth. After that, it was all couture. 'She was a joy to dress. She could wear any colour and look wonderful,' David previously told You Magazine. 'Some of the royal ladies could be difficult but Diana would always send little thank-you notes or twirl around saying, "They're going to love this!" She really was a delight.' Before working with Diana, David had dressed every royal lady – except the Queen – along with a host of stars, including Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Helen Mirren and Jackie Kennedy. Created by David in 1988, this floral dress became known as Diana's 'caring dress' because she often wore it to meet children. She decided against wearing the matching hat, telling the designer it wasn't possible to cuddle a child in a hat Princess Diana wearing a Bellville Sassoon maternity coat for a royal engagement in Huddersfield in 1982 Despite the formalities required when addressing a royal, Diana always made the conversation personal. 'She was always asking, "What have you been doing, what have you seen?" David said. They shared a love for ballet and often bonded over it. 'There were times when I'd be quite fraught and she'd pat the sofa beside her and say, "Now, what's the problem? Sit down and have a cup of tea." 'She was good at listening to your woes but she rarely opened up about her own.' Diana's style broke with tradition. She frequently skipped gloves, sometimes went without hats, and was the first royal woman to regularly wear trousers. She enjoyed surprising people and expressing herself through her wardrobe. Among the standout pieces David created for her were a glittering gown for the State Opening of Parliament and a red coat with statement stitching, worn on the day she announced her pregnancy with Prince William. Diana was highly engaged in the design process, returning sketches with handwritten notes like 'Yes, please!' or 'Please could I have this one without the high collar and bow?' She always followed up a delivery with a thoughtful gift or a note of thanks. On paper, David and Diana made an unlikely alliance: he was the son of Iraqi-Jewish immigrants, she was the daughter of an earl. He was nearly 30 years her senior and several inches shorter in stature, but he had an eye for elegance and his résumé was unparalleled. Diana wore a glamorous off-the-shoulder dress by Bellville Sassoon to a concert at the Barbican in 1989 The Princess dazzled in a Bellville Sassoon evening gown at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1981 On the day she announced her first pregnancy with Prince William in 1981, Diana wore a striking Bellville Sassoon coat, incorporating statement stitching and a fringed trim. She continued to favour the designer throughout both pregnancies David Sassoon and Belinda Bellville pictured in their Knightsbridge store in 1981. David passed away on April 9 at the age of 92 As she found her style footing, Diana grew to depend on David – both as her designer and a trusted confidant in the often stifling world of palace life. David officially retired in 2012 but remained involved in fashion, curating a retrospective of his work at the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey. Since then, his designs have featured in numerous exhibitions, most recently Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners Shaped Global Style at the Museum of London Docklands in 2023.
