They were among Princess Diana’s most iconic looks.
Now, five “twins” of gowns that Diana wore for some of her most famous appearances in the last years of her life are being sold by the fashion designer who worked with her in her final years.
The “twins” were created by the Moroccan designer Jacques Azagury, who made a matching piece for each one he created for Diana, which have been kept in his archive ever since.
The Daily Mail reports that now that he is retiring, he’s selling the five contemporary copies, dubbed The Famous Five, including the last gown she ever wore in public, a blue piece known as the “Swan Lake” dress.
They are expected to fetch anything from $10,000 upwards.
Some of the dresses, which are being sold by auction on Dec. 7, come with personal notes of thanks from the princess, such as a beaded floor-length black gown she wore on her 36th birthday, July 1, 1997.
She wore the dress after being sent it at the last minute as a birthday present, and reports say her note 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.”
Azagury told The London Times: “Her visits were very relaxed, she loved chatting to the girls here. She didn’t ask me to design specific dresses for her, she knew that she could come here and find something she’d love and that we could adapt it and create a unique dress for whatever occasion she needed.
“Each dress that I made for Diana was special for me and I have had great joy from these dresses for over 20 years, but now that I am retiring, I would like that joy to pass to someone else and it can continue to be shared.”
Azagury told the Mail: “She had this magic of making you feel at ease within seconds…I usually take everything in my stride, but I have to admit, every time I saw Diana wearing my clothes, I did get very excited.”
One of the most famous dresses that Azagury created for Diana was the black gown she wore to a gala the night her bombshell interview with Panorama was broadcast.
Azagury told the Mail: “She confided in me that she had done the interview and wanted something very simple and sexy to wear on the night [of the broadcast]. I knew exactly what we were dealing with so I wanted it to be sensational. She tried on three dresses and we decided on that one. Then it was whisked up for her in three days.
Mark Cuthbert / Getty Images
“I saw her for a final fitting on the morning the interview was to be broadcast. She seemed relieved. She knew it would cause a furore but she said: ‘I haven’t said anything bad. I haven’t said anything wrong. I’ve just said everything the way it is.’ And she was right. I think it was her way of moving on.”
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