However, it was not the first time that she appeared on the public stage, but on this particular day, Lady Diana radiated. All the ingredients seemed to have come together, the planets seemed aligned. This evening in October 1989, the Princess of Wales was the guest of the first edition of the British Fashion Awards. Sitting alongside the country's most avant-garde designers, Diana, far from being frightened, took advantage of the opportunity to establish a cutting-edge fashion reputation, open to the younger generation.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – OCTOBER 17: Diana, Princess of Wales attends The British Fashion Awards, at The Royal Albert Hall, on October 17, 1989 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images)Julian Parker/Getty Images
For this evening, the princess placed her trust in a British stylist, Catherine Walker, so that she could imagine the outlines of an outfit that could highlight the know-how of the United Kingdom. The two women already knew each other well. The English designer, based in Chelsea, first dressed Diana when she was pregnant with Prince William in 1981. She also played an important role in developing her wardrobe and royal look.
For this evening of the British Fashion Awards, she knew exactly what would allow Lady Diana to take the spotlight. The stylist then designed a dress and a white bolero, hand-embroidered with some 28,600 pearls. Its distinctive sign? Its high, pointed collar earned it the nickname “Elvis dress”. Alongside Zandra Rhodes, Yasmin Le Bon and Naomi Campbell, there was something singularly brilliant about wearing a white wedding dress weighed down by microscopic embellishments. There is fashion, then there is royal fashion.
Diana, Princess of Wales (1961 – 1997) at the first British Fashion Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London, 17th October 1989. She is wearing a white gown by Catherine Walker with a waist-length jacket. (Photo by Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images
Lady Diana then Meghan Markle
It took almost three decades for another member of the royal family to flash the paparazzi cameras at the British Fashion Awards (which became the Fashion Awards in 2016). In 2018, Meghan Markle was invited to present Clare Waight Keller with the British Designer of the Year award for her women's collections, while she was pregnant with her little boy, Archie. Her rounded stomach was molded into a black Givenchy dress made by the designer herself.
