Long before the Queen Elizabeth II Award recognized emerging talent, Princess Diana was a familiar face in the front row at London Fashion Week. The famously shy former nursery teacher, whose style evolved from sheep-printed jumpers to Versace tank dresses, never made the shows about herself. There were no special arrangements for her, no elaborate seating, and she never posed for the paparazzi. Instead, her signature black tailored suits reflected a demure Diana on personal business, a far cry from a publicity stunt. The events the Princess attended revealed much about her character. For example, her presence at the Lancaster House launch event for the March 1985 showcase, following the inaugural London Fashion Week a year prior, suggests her curiosity about the emerging fashion scene. We can imagine Diana being intrigued by the uproar surrounding Katharine Hamnett’s first riotous spring/summer 1985 show – and her subsequent landmark meeting with the Prime Minister – and the rebellious cohort of designers introduced by the newly established British Fashion Council. Perhaps she was particularly interested in the work of the new, wildly romantic genius John Galliano, whose entire Central Saint Martins graduate collection, Les Incroyables, was snatched up by Browns’s Joan Burstein. Certainly, the dance-loving Diana would have found delight in BodyMap’s counter-cultural celebration of Lycra-heavy fashion for all ages, sizes, and genders. Diana’s first LFW look – a silky dressing-gown style dress by Bellville Sassoon – showcased a bright twentysomething whose eyes lit up at clothing rails, according to her stylist Anna Harvey. By the ’90s, Diana had established her own fashion identity, refining her formula of timeless Chanel skirt suits and athletic dresses by her friend Gianni Versace. The voluminous Bruce Oldfield designs of her earlier years were streamlined, the Laura Ashley blouses worn by “Dynasty Di” were a distant memory, and she became interested in designers who subverted traditional British dress codes, much like she was doing herself as part of the royal family. In 1995, the Princess attended her first actual fashion show, courtesy of Joe Casely-Hayford. It would have been inspiring to see Diana wear the energetic, intellectual designer’s radical twists on Savile Row tailoring before her untimely death two years later. The Princess, who attended the 1989 Fashion Awards wearing a dramatic Catherine Walker “Elvis” dress, understood the power of her image. She attended other seasonal presentations, even the less exciting ribbon-cutting ceremonies, with her Manolos on, her trusty Dior “Lady Di” bag slung over her shoulder, and a Sam McKnight blow-dry: her personal suit of armor. Later in 1995, she attended the Met Gala in Galliano. It is possible to imagine that, had she lived, Princess Diana could have established her own talent initiative dedicated to supporting brilliant outsiders.
Princess Diana: A Fashion Icon at London Fashion Week
