The collection of dresses, shoes and bags has been on display since Thursday in a twelve-day exhibition in a Hong Kong shopping center.
The daffodil yellow jacket, fitted and shouldered, decorated with gold buttons, that Princess Diana wore during a trip to Hong Kong in 1989 is among six outfits on display since Thursday in the former British colony before their auction scheduled for June .
The collection of dresses, shoes and bags, so many memories of moments experienced by the pinch, has been presented since Thursday in a twelve-day exhibition in a Hong Kong shopping center. The pieces will then be exhibited in Ireland before being auctioned on June 27.
The Princess of Wales, who died in a car accident in Paris in 1997, dictated fashion “every time she dressed up and went out”, Martin Nolan, director of the auction house Julien’s Auctions, told AFP , based in California.
Dazzling evening outfit
The price of the yellow jacket, created by Catherine Walker, could reach $50,000 at auction while that of a midnight blue tulle evening dress strewn with stars could soar to $400,000.
Lady Di wore this dazzling evening outfit, designed by Murray Arbeid, to the premiere of Phantom of the Opera in 1986 at the West End in London. On Thursday, visitors crowded the small exhibition space, stopping to read the story behind each outfit.
A 65-year-old shopkeeper, who gives his name as Fung, remembers the crowds that filled the streets of Hong Kong during Princess Diana’s visit in 1989. “Diana was charismatic, caring and charitable. She was the “which is why many Hong Kong people respected her,” he said.
Among the pieces on display is a silk and lace evening dress designed by Victor Edelstein as well as a pink floral dress by Catherine Walker, which Diana wore in 1991.
$1.14 million for an evening dress
The outfits are both “tangible items and topics of conversation” which still fascinate the princess’s admirers, underlined Martin Nolan. “People are still in love with Diana as if she were with us today, and that’s what’s incredible,” he added.
In 2023, Julien’s Auctions sold a Diana evening dress for the record sum of $1.14 million.
Even for the younger generation, Diana occupies a notable place in pop culture, notes Kathleen, a young woman specializing in digital marketing, who does not give her name. This craze could be partly due to the hit series The Crown from Netflix, according to her.
Her style could come back into fashion, the young woman told AFP, believing that the exhibition linked “fashion and history”. “It’s not the same as just seeing photos.”
