The Princess Diana revenge dress era was utterly iconic in pop culture, fashion and royal history. Now, five replicas of Diana’s iconic post-divorce dresses designed by Jacques Azagury have been auctioned off and are heading to America.
The evening gowns, which were replicated to be identical to the ones worn by Diana in the 1990s, sold to a private buyer in Los Angeles for an undisclosed sum. However, it was predicted that each dress would fetch anywhere from $20,000 – $40,000 at auction.
Amongst the five gowns is a replica of the black sequined gown Diana wore to Tate Gallery in London, which would be her final red carpet event before her untimely passing in 1997.
“The whole collection means a lot to me, and the only reason I am selling them is because as of five weeks ago, I retired,” Jacques Azagury told PEOPLE. “I really wanted people to keep enjoying these iconic dresses and ideally to keep the whole collection together.”
Jacques and Diana first met in 1987 when the Princess’ late stylist and former British Vogue deputy editor, Anna Harvey introduced them at a party.
Almost a decade later, amid the finalisation of her impending divorce from the then-Prince Charles, Jacques began designing gowns for Diana as she grappled with life away from the royal family.
Whilst Diana’s fashion became an instantaneous hit during her marriage to Charles, it was really her post-separation fashion that cemented her as one of the 20th century’s enduring style icons – and Jacques was an integral part of shaping this.
The Princess Diana revenge dress look in 1994, which was designed by Christina Stambolian, is often thought of as a one-off occasion which is simply untrue. Despite the Stambolian design being the most synonymous with Diana’s post-divorce public image, the Princess had an entire ‘revenge era’ using boundary pushing fashion such as the designs of Jacques Azagury.
One of the replicated gowns is this stunning ice blue shift dress which had ‘Hepburn-esque’ bows on the straps. Diana wore this dress to the Royal Gala Performance of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall in 1997. The designer has said that Diana adored the dress so much that he recreated the dress in a long, black version which he gifted to Diana for her 36th birthday.
Featuring those same ‘Hepburn-esque’ bows on the straps, Diana wore the black iteration of the Jacques Azagury gown for her 36th birthday attending a gala dinner at the Tate Museum in London.
The collection of auctioned replica gowns also includes this iconic black dress. If there was ever a sequel to the Princess Diana revenge dress – this would be it. Similarly to the way Diana sported the tantalising Christina Stambolian mini dress on the exact same night that Charles confessed to his adultery with Camilla, this dress was worn the night Diana’s explosive 1995 interview with the BBC’s Martin Bashir aired.
This red dress, worn by Diana to the Red Cross Ball Gala dinner in Washington in 1997, featured a deep, provocative V cut in the back as well as a silk sash. Complete with a boater neckline, this is easily one of Diana’s most memorable looks.
