Princess Diana

PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT

Jacques Azagury is retiring from the fabulous world of fashion that has been his life for nearly forty years. It has been an amazing journey that has seen him rise to the very top of his profession, and along the way he has dressed royalty and movie stars alike. One person who shared that journey with him for a decade was Diana, the late Princess of Wales.

More than anyone, Jacques was responsible for creating ‘the look’ of Diana in what was tragically to be the last two years of her life. That ‘look’ is how many of us choose to remember her; at her most relaxed, confident and beautiful. Unshackled from an unhappy marriage and the restrictions placed upon her, she was blooming.
In Azagury’s dresses she looked simply stunning; confident, chic and sexy, yet also carefree and dare we say it, truly happy.

Diana attending Swan Lake & in Venice

The last five dresses Jacques made for Diana are now iconic, worn on nights of immense significance in her life. The long black sheath dress she wore to a gala on the night her Panorama interview was aired; the chic short blue ‘Swan Lake’ dress she wore the night when arguably, she was photographed more than on any other night of her life, or finally her 36^th birthday dress, a gift from Jacques and worn on her last public evening engagement before she set off on her French holiday in the fateful summer of 1997.

Diana loved visiting Jacques’ atelier in Knightsbridge. “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.”

After initial design consultation and then dress fittings with Diana, the final dress would be made up in the chosen fabric. Jacques made a pair of identical dresses, one of which was sent to Diana and the other kept for his archive. These identical, archived dresses are now to be sold, with the dress patterns, related paperwork and the notes and cards Diana sent to Jacques.

We asked Jacques if he felt sentimental about parting with these items but he explained “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."

For fashionistas, memorabilia collectors, or those who simply loved Diana, this sale presents a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire something truly unique. Not since Diana held her own charity fashion sale has there been an opportunity like this. These beautiful dresses, the twins to those that Diana owned and so intrinsically linked to her, together with the original patterns from which those dresses were created, poignantly bring us within touching distance of one of the most remarkable figures of the 20th century.
We are quite literally, touching the fabric of history.

BREAKING NEWS - We are delighted to announce that we have negotiated a private treaty sale of the Princess Diana Jacques Azagury Personal Collection for an undisclosed six-figure sum

For further information about this remarkable collection, please email us: media@davidlay.co.uk. 

 WATCH THIS SPACE!

We will also be selling further items from Jacques Azagury's archive in our December 7th Luxury Jewellery & Fashion auction.
These include the champagne silk taffeta evening dress that Helen Mirren wore when collecting her Bafta for her role in 'The Queen' also the corset worn by Kelly Brook in the 'Crazy Horse' burlesque cabaret in 2012. There will be mannequins and fixtures and fittings from Mr Azagury's Knightsbridge atelier so we highly recommend signing up for notifications about this exciting sale.