0:00:03 > 0:00:06Each of these dresses tells a story.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09Each is part of fashion history.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12All of them were worn by the late Princess Diana.
0:00:14 > 0:00:15By the end of her life,
0:00:15 > 0:00:19Diana had become the most fashionable woman on the planet.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Elegance and style personified.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27To understand how she got there,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30you have to unpick the sequins and pearls,
0:00:30 > 0:00:34and undo every stitch, to discover how Diana evolved,
0:00:34 > 0:00:35using the power of fashion
0:00:35 > 0:00:38as a means of communication and self-expression.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45She came to rely on a small number of trusted designers to fashion
0:00:45 > 0:00:48a startling new image of a 20th-century princess.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52This is Diana's fashion story,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56told through the designers whose clothes helped to transform
0:00:56 > 0:00:59a shy teenage girl into Diana, Princess of Wales -
0:00:59 > 0:01:03the greatest British fashion star of all time.
0:01:13 > 0:01:182017 marks 20 years since the death of Princess Diana.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20And to commemorate the anniversary,
0:01:20 > 0:01:24Kensington Palace are exhibiting many of her most famous outfits,
0:01:24 > 0:01:26lent by collectors around the world.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Ahead of the exhibition,
0:01:28 > 0:01:30each item has been painstakingly prepared
0:01:30 > 0:01:33by the Hampton Court Palace conservation department.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37The collection here contains 10,000 objects of historic dress.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39So what we're looking at here
0:01:39 > 0:01:43is THE only surviving piece of Elizabeth I's wardrobe.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47The dresses of Diana, Princess of Wales,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50are as important as any of the pieces here,
0:01:50 > 0:01:52and can be read in the same sort of way.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55Diana was really an excellent silent communicator through her clothes.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58She really understood the language of clothes.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00Jasper Conran recalls that when she was trying on clothes
0:02:00 > 0:02:02she would look in the mirror and say,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04"What message am I giving off?"
0:02:04 > 0:02:07Diana's fashion story begins here.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10With this dress by a little-known designer, Regamus.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15The first owned by teenage Diana, youngest daughter of the Spencers,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18one of Britain's oldest aristocratic families.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Diana, in those days, didn't follow fashion at all.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27And in fact, if you see her, kind of, early photographs,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29the frocks are very, very...
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Well, I think you'd call rustic, they are nothing.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35It was the kind of thing that her contemporaries,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37in that particular class, wore.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Demure and pretty.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42Not have anything sensational.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44That would be considered showing off.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48But everything changed in 1980,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51when the press discovered she was dating Prince Charles.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54- Have you any comments to make about that?- No.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56Lady Di? Lady Dianna?
0:02:56 > 0:02:59No comment all round.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Quickly nicknamed Shy Di,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04her clothing was instantly scrutinised
0:03:04 > 0:03:08and she became the figurehead of a new upper-class trend.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11I think Diana started with a disadvantage,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13because she was a Sloane Ranger.
0:03:13 > 0:03:18And they didn't really, in those days, actually have fashion sense.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19They had a uniform.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Nice pullover, expensive blouse or shirt.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25It was just quietly saying,
0:03:25 > 0:03:29"This is where I come from. I'm country, but I'm not country.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33"We have a place in town, as well as acres in the shires.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38"And, really, we are a separate little enclave of people."
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Diana had moved, aged 18,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47to West London to live in a flat share with friends.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49And worked as a nursery assistant.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51She may have come from an aristocratic family,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54but she wasn't spending money on clothes.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56When Diana began dating Charles,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00almost everything she wears is borrowed from her flatmates,
0:04:00 > 0:04:02and fashion is low on her list of priorities.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06It's hard to imagine now, but at that point in her life,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10the sum total of Diana's wardrobe includes the following...
0:04:10 > 0:04:12One smart dress.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14A shirt. And a pair of smart shoes.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18For the announcement of their engagement,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Diana picked and off-the-peg blue suit from Harrods.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24The press were disappointed to find Shy Di
0:04:24 > 0:04:27dressed more like a politician than a princess.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29She looked a little prim,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31and I think she was a little prim then.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Probably, the Palace wanted her to look prim.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38There's no point in having someone marrying a young prince
0:04:38 > 0:04:40who comes on like Zsa Zsa Gabor.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46But they wouldn't have to wait long for Diana's first transformation.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51In a portrait by Lord Snowdon for British Vogue,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Diana had been dressed in a pink blouse
0:04:53 > 0:04:57created by an up-and-coming designer couple called the Emanuels.
0:04:57 > 0:04:58And she decided
0:04:58 > 0:04:59to visit their studio.
0:05:02 > 0:05:03I'm a natural hoarder.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06I hate throwing anything away.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Elizabeth keeps everything from her years designing for Diana
0:05:09 > 0:05:11safe under lock and key.
0:05:12 > 0:05:13I don't know where to start.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16- Now, you remember the black dress?- Yes.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Well, this is made from the same fabric.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21And I think it's very much the kind of style
0:05:21 > 0:05:23we would have done for Diana.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26The black dress was the first time that she'd been seen out in public
0:05:26 > 0:05:29at a proper official function with Prince Charles.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31- As his fiancee?- That's right.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35We thought, "Well, black, classic. Fine, let's do that."
0:05:35 > 0:05:37And we were so naive at the time,
0:05:37 > 0:05:41because not only are you not really supposed to put the Royals in black,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45but also, she had to get out of a car that was quite low.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48- And as she lent forward... - An abundance of cleavage?
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Yeah, and the cameras caught her just there.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54As Lady Diana entered the hall for the concert,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57there were audible admiring gasps from those present.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04I think it was just a wake-up call for everyone.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07That she was no longer that little girl.
0:06:07 > 0:06:08She looked super glamorous.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11- She wanted to be grown-up in that dress, didn't she?- Yeah.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13His lady had well and truly arrived
0:06:13 > 0:06:17in a manner few of those present were likely to forget in a hurry.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Nobody really told her how to dress.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24She didn't know that Royalty
0:06:24 > 0:06:27are not supposed to wear black unless they're in mourning.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29She didn't know anything.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33Grace Kelly, or rather Princess Grace of Monaco, was there,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36whom Diana absolutely worshipped.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38And they got talking,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41and Diana was terribly upset about what had happened,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43and how she'd put her foot in it.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47So she's sort of complained to Princess Grace who said,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49"Don't worry, dear. You'll see it gets worse."
0:06:50 > 0:06:54So, for young designers who'd only been out of college, what, a year?
0:06:54 > 0:06:56That must have been quite an amazing time for you.
0:06:56 > 0:06:57Well, it was. Also, at that time
0:06:57 > 0:07:00we knew we were going to be making her wedding dress.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03- That early? - Yes.- How were you told?
0:07:03 > 0:07:06We got a phone call. And it was Diana who said,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09"Would you and David do the honour of making my wedding dress?"
0:07:09 > 0:07:13And it was just the most amazing few moments.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18And our life, at that point, just changed.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21But at the time of the black dress, you had no idea of protocol.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23No idea what was expected for royal dress.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25By the time you were making the wedding dress,
0:07:25 > 0:07:26were there rules you had to abide by?
0:07:26 > 0:07:29No. Basically, no rules, no protocols. Nothing.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31We were just left to get on with it.
0:07:34 > 0:07:40So this is the only pattern that exists of the royal wedding dress.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42- Here is some of the veiling, as well.- Oh!
0:07:42 > 0:07:44You can still see the little sequins.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47- Oh, yes.- I think the veil might have been a bit long
0:07:47 > 0:07:48cos we've obviously chopped it off.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Cos there's the actual hem.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Which was all done on a zig zag machine, by hand.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55It took forever.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57We wanted it to be longer than any other wedding dress,
0:07:57 > 0:07:59so we made it 25 feet.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Ah! Here's the girls.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03Ah, so it's not a massive team, is it?
0:08:03 > 0:08:05- It's a small team. - We were a tiny little company.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07You know, she'd come to our studio
0:08:07 > 0:08:10and it was a bit of a sanctuary for her, I think.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13And she knew she was safe there.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15She didn't want to disappoint anyone, you know.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17She knew they were looking forward to seeing this wedding.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21And we all wanted to give everybody
0:08:21 > 0:08:24the most beautiful vision of a fairy-tale princess.
0:08:27 > 0:08:28Hundreds of yards of veil.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Ivory silk tulle veil, spangled.
0:08:31 > 0:08:32And now here she comes.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38If you can imagine, being at the top of the steps at Saint Paul's,
0:08:38 > 0:08:40our first view of Diana was the top of her head.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43And as she climbed the steps, more and more of her dress was visible.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47And immediately, it was apparent that she'd got creases in her dress.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53I was just... I mean, horrified, actually.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55David and I started to, you know,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58pull the creases out and arrange things.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01So by the time she actually walked down the aisle she looked perfect,
0:09:01 > 0:09:03the dress looked perfect.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09I think we did accomplish what we'd set out to accomplish.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12- To create a romantic princess? - We did.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Diana now turned to a designer
0:09:16 > 0:09:20with years of experience dressing royalty, David Sassoon.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22And he found a headstrong princess
0:09:22 > 0:09:26keen to keep the romantic style of her wedding.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28This is the fairy tale dress.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30Children related to it.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34It's their idea of what a princess should look like.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39As a 19-year-old, she had a very romantic idea of dressing,
0:09:39 > 0:09:41but I have to say,
0:09:41 > 0:09:45that that particular period of fashion was very romantic.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49So it was a period of pretty clothes.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Pussycat bows at the neck, ruffled collars.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Soft, very girlie clothes.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Diana and young people across Britain
0:09:58 > 0:10:02had fallen under the spell of the New Romantic trend.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran,
0:10:05 > 0:10:10fashion dominated by foppish frills and excess.
0:10:10 > 0:10:11Did she come to you with ideas or sketches?
0:10:11 > 0:10:13On one occasion she did.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15It was the only time she ever did it.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17She sent me a very rough sketch,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20because it was a rather important dress.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24It was her first dress she wore to the State Opening of Parliament.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26And she sent me a letter about it.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31Here we are. It was dated September the 15th, 1981.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36"I have drawn in rough a diagram, which I hope you can understand!
0:10:36 > 0:10:38"I wondered if it would be possible
0:10:38 > 0:10:42"for the front and the back of the dress to be of the same shape,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45"as it is slightly padded.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48"If it is too difficult, for heaven's sake, let me know."
0:10:48 > 0:10:51So she trusted you, but she wanted to experiment for herself?
0:10:51 > 0:10:56Yes. I have to say, it wasn't her most successful dress.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58She never ever asked us to do
0:10:58 > 0:11:01something that was her own idea again.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03She relied on us
0:11:03 > 0:11:07because she had gained enough confidence in us to be guided by us.
0:11:11 > 0:11:17And with their help, Diana navigated a rapid makeover in the early '80s.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22She gave birth to both her children,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25embarked on worldwide tours,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29and swapped fairy tale frills for a more experimental look,
0:11:29 > 0:11:31modernising the codes of Royal dress.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Fashion was changing in itself, and becoming much more relaxed.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41And the mood in lifestyle had changed.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43She was the first to wear trousers.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46She was the first official royal lady
0:11:46 > 0:11:49to stop wearing little white gloves.
0:11:49 > 0:11:50And hats.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52She didn't wear hats and gloves with everything,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55which is, like, the most traditional,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58most important piece in a royal wardrobe.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00She, very tactfully,
0:12:00 > 0:12:06went through the idea of being slightly rebellious.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08And she also liked to surprise.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11She loved the fun of saying,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14"Oh, the press are going to love this!"
0:12:14 > 0:12:16So she knew what they would be like?
0:12:16 > 0:12:21Oh, she absolutely knew certain dresses would cause comment.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23And she enjoyed that.
0:12:24 > 0:12:25The press and the public
0:12:25 > 0:12:29couldn't get enough of Diana's ever-evolving '80s wardrobe.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Embracing their high-street trend for shoulder pads and glitz.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37She looked more like a modern celebrity
0:12:37 > 0:12:39than the royalty we were accustomed to.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Whether seeing her in "Disco Di mode"
0:12:43 > 0:12:44at a film premiere...
0:12:47 > 0:12:50..skiing with Sarah Ferguson,
0:12:50 > 0:12:52or on down time as a young mum,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55Diana was remoulding not only the fashion,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59but the public image of the monarchy.
0:12:59 > 0:13:04What Diana did was break with royal protocol
0:13:04 > 0:13:06in a very, very significant way.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Because she said, "I'm not just a member of the Royal family,
0:13:09 > 0:13:11"I am a multifaceted person.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16"I am a young mum, I'm someone who likes fun and excitement, sometimes,
0:13:16 > 0:13:19"depending on the me I am at the time."
0:13:19 > 0:13:22And that's not what being a member of the Royal family is about at all.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25It's being, you know, stable and unchanging.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29So she really blew it away with the variety of her clothing
0:13:29 > 0:13:34and the way that her clothing reflected an actual breadth of life.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44But the best remembered of all Diana's '80s outfits
0:13:44 > 0:13:48was the one that helped her to become fashion royalty,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50created by designer Victor Edelstein.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53A classic couturier a trained at Dior.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57It is today remembered as the Travolta Dress.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59One big influence on her life, early on,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02was the couturier Victor Edelstein,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06who really took her in hand and made her look modern.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09Simplified her silhouette, and put her on the right road.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15When I first went to meet her, I was utterly enchanted.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18I really was. I just had never met anyone quite like her.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21I remember when I left, I walked down the stairs, almost in the air.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25I just, erm, was totally bowled over.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30She'd see the dresses sometimes
0:14:30 > 0:14:33by coming to the rehearsal of our shows if she could.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35She never came to the actual shows because, obviously,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37nobody would look at the show, at all.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39There'd be so much attention, terribly unbearable.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42When she came to the rehearsal,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44I would always, obviously, sit with her.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46It did actually make doing the rehearsals
0:14:46 > 0:14:47that little bit more tricky,
0:14:47 > 0:14:49but I wasn't going to say, "Don't come."
0:14:51 > 0:14:52But it was very nice that she did come.
0:14:52 > 0:14:53It also made us get on with it,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56because if she was coming at a specific time
0:14:56 > 0:14:58we jolly well would begin at the time she came,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01so that was quite a good discipline.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04I never quite knew what she liked during the rehearsal.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07She'd let me know later which ones she was interested in.
0:15:07 > 0:15:08I noticed her progression
0:15:08 > 0:15:11in that she wore simpler and simpler things,
0:15:11 > 0:15:13which is always a good sign.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21The world was introduced to a more pared-back Diana
0:15:21 > 0:15:24on a tour of America in 1985,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27when she met the Reagans and outshone Hollywood,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29dancing with film star John Travolta.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Victor Edelstein, his clothing,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36they look simple and straightforward,
0:15:36 > 0:15:37but they are not.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39So, for example, the very famous Travolta dress
0:15:39 > 0:15:42as it's now been called, it looks quite simple,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45but the way that the velvet is ruched at the bodice,
0:15:45 > 0:15:47it is very difficult to achieve.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50It makes it look so classical, it must have moved beautifully.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53And I think, if it had been a different dress
0:15:53 > 0:15:54that she was wearing,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57it might not have made such an iconic photo.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01In the case of the John Travolta dress,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04I had various, faintly ridiculous telephone calls
0:16:04 > 0:16:06from fashion journalists in America.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09How they got my telephone number in the middle of the night,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11I really don't know. Sort of asking questions.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14I don't know the answers they were hoping for.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17You know, "Why navy blue? Why a midnight? Why off the shoulder?"
0:16:17 > 0:16:20All I want to say was,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23"Look, I just want to go back to bed, if you don't mind."
0:16:26 > 0:16:29Edelstein became one of Diana's favourite designers,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31and she learned the rule that less is more.
0:16:35 > 0:16:36By the tail end of the '80s,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39she had developed a timeless signature style,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41and won universal fashion acclaim.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46But as she grew more confident on foreign tours,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48and increased her charity work,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51she looked to fashion a new working wardrobe,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54and she came to rely on the designer Catherine Walker.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Walker designed 1,000 pieces for the Princess,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04often producing up to 40 outfits for each official tour.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08And today, the Chelsea atelier
0:17:08 > 0:17:11retains the Royal connection, as one of the Duchess of Cambridge
0:17:11 > 0:17:13Kate Middleton's preferred designers.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21Catherine Walker is inseparable from Diana's fashion story.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Catherine took designing for Diana very seriously.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27She sort of treated it in that tradition of court dressmakers,
0:17:27 > 0:17:32and wanted to give Diana a royal uniform of sorts,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36in that sort of old tradition of the Georgian court, something regal.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38What she called the dignified showstopper.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Catherine Walker died in 2010.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45But her husband, Said, now runs the atelier.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49And was her co-designer through her time working with Diana.
0:17:49 > 0:17:55If anybody sees the end result of what we used to do for the Princess,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58they may be surprised at the amount of research and background work
0:17:58 > 0:18:02that my wife and I used to do in order to achieve the end result.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07We decided that we would research the roots
0:18:07 > 0:18:11that defined modern British royal dressing.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13The chapter we are living in now,
0:18:13 > 0:18:19seemed to begin 100-years ago with Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24This was an era of grace and calm.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29Fine lace, fine silk, exquisite embroidery.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Whether you articulate the thought or not, unconsciously,
0:18:32 > 0:18:39there's a distinct connection in the visual symmetry from 100-years ago,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43brought into the 20th century in this shiny, polished,
0:18:43 > 0:18:45modern royal garment.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50In addition to creating these very glamorous evening outfits
0:18:50 > 0:18:52and evening gowns,
0:18:52 > 0:18:56Catherine also specialised in creating a very pared-back
0:18:56 > 0:18:58day wardrobe for Diana.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02So two-piece suits, very simple sheath dresses,
0:19:02 > 0:19:07And that really chimed very well with Diana's move in the '90s
0:19:07 > 0:19:11to become known as a workhorse, not a clothes horse.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14And she realised that the way to concentrate
0:19:14 > 0:19:18the press' attention on her work was to dress down.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Whether visiting children in hospital,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25as an ambassador for a charity,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28or later, when raising awareness of land mines,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Diana converted her wardrobe into that of a professional woman.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39During the... Particularly, the later part of her life,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41what do you think her clothes were saying about her?
0:19:41 > 0:19:43Towards the end, she'd moved out of that, sort of,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45very vulnerable, demure look.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49And much more into a power-dressing statement.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53Quite slick, tailored, quite bold colours.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57These were clothes that actually lifted her up
0:19:57 > 0:20:00and gave her much more a sense of authority.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Of real cut and thrust in what was, by now,
0:20:03 > 0:20:05a world that she was very confident in.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10But behind the power dressing during the first years of the '90s,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12her marriage was breaking down,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15and Diana's clothing at public appearances
0:20:15 > 0:20:18suggested a growing independence.
0:20:18 > 0:20:25All fashion is a shield, and a sword, and a tool for everybody.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28You know, everybody uses fashion to send out messages.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32It's just that, you know, Diana's messages were seen and amplified
0:20:32 > 0:20:35and pored over around the world.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39So, for her, fashion was, you know, quite a nuclear weapon.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42And never more memorably than on the evening when Prince Charles
0:20:42 > 0:20:46admitted their marriage had irretrievably broken down
0:20:46 > 0:20:49and she stepped out in what the press termed the Revenge Dress.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55Diana was mindful of what ever she wore, whenever she wore it,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59and certainly got a dressing down in the early days for wearing black,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01but chose an occasion
0:21:01 > 0:21:05immediately after the announcement of his infidelity.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10She not only wore a black off-the-shoulder dress,
0:21:10 > 0:21:11but it was very short,
0:21:11 > 0:21:16revealing, sort of, acreage of toned legs.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19And it was a kind of masterpiece, really, of image management.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22And I think that was, you know, the moment when she was saying,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25"I've played by the rules and where did it get me?
0:21:25 > 0:21:28"I ain't playing by them no more."
0:21:31 > 0:21:34Diana now had a final transformation,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36moving away from monarchy and marriage
0:21:36 > 0:21:41and toward self-definition as a newly-independent woman.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45Her fashion was becoming ever bolder and more body confident.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53'Jacques Azagury created many of Diana's best-remembered dresses
0:21:53 > 0:21:54'in the final years of her life.'
0:21:56 > 0:21:58These dresses, which we see here,
0:21:58 > 0:22:01so identifiable as the later part of her life.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03Now, she wasn't necessarily a risk taker,
0:22:03 > 0:22:07but do you think she got more risque as she got older?
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Yes, absolutely.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13She went completely away from the very, sort of, grand ball dresses,
0:22:13 > 0:22:18and went down to these more fashionable looks.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20You know, it was the time of the supermodels.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22It was the time of all those great girls,
0:22:22 > 0:22:24looking fantastic and wow, wow, wow.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28And, you know, she wanted to be on the same level.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Dresses were getting shorter, cleavage was getting lower.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33For instance, with the little blue dress there,
0:22:33 > 0:22:35it ended up, really, very short on her.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38She was 5ft 10.5, 5ft 11 without shoes on.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42And from the waist to the hemline is 20 inches.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47And she wanted to go even shorter, but, of course, Paul Burrell,
0:22:47 > 0:22:52her butler, said, "No way. You can't go any shorter than that."
0:22:52 > 0:22:55So she did take many more risks towards the end.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57She started wearing black a lot more,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00started wearing more figure-hugging dresses.
0:23:00 > 0:23:01Sexier dresses.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03This black dress here,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07I saw her the night before the famous interview with...
0:23:07 > 0:23:09- Martin Bashir.- ..Martin Bashir.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12And she says, "Well, I've done this interview.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15"Tomorrow night, I have to be at an event
0:23:15 > 0:23:18"when it's going to be broadcast."
0:23:18 > 0:23:20And she wanted something black and something sexy,
0:23:20 > 0:23:21and something that says,
0:23:21 > 0:23:23"I'm a free woman, I'm going to do what I want."
0:23:23 > 0:23:26And that's why she went for this figure-hugging dress, with a train.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28Very, very simple.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31So it was saying a lot of things in the one dress.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37In 1997, Diana decided to sell
0:23:37 > 0:23:39many of her most famous dresses for charity.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46Meredith Etherington-Smith was responsible for organising the sale.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50She wanted to sell the clothes because she wasn't an HRH any more,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52she would always be part of the Royal family
0:23:52 > 0:23:55because she's mother of the future King.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57But she wasn't going to be Queen.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00And she could start to build a different life for herself.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03When we started taking photographs for the catalogue,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Lord Snowdon took some wonderful portraits.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09But it was her past he was photographing, not her future.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13And I was much more interested in her future.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19Meredith called upon the help of fashion photographer Mario Testino
0:24:19 > 0:24:22to create a set of pictures for a Vanity Fair article
0:24:22 > 0:24:26showing off a new look and titled, "Diana Reborn".
0:24:27 > 0:24:29She'd arrived with all her jewellery and I said,
0:24:29 > 0:24:33"Look, no more chokers, ma'am. No more chokers."
0:24:33 > 0:24:35And I said, "We want much less.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37"We want to make you look as if
0:24:37 > 0:24:40"you've just stepped out of the shower."
0:24:40 > 0:24:41We all had lunch together.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44Sort of sandwiches and this, that and the other.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47And then Mario did a fantastically funny imitation
0:24:47 > 0:24:49of Naomi Campbell doing catwalk.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53And not to be outdone, the Princess did a turn, as well.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56She could do no wrong in front of the lens.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58What I'd done was just strip away
0:24:58 > 0:25:03all the props and the cascades of diamonds and things,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06and just shown her as she now had become.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Two weeks before the sale in New York,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12what you saw was this shock.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16And that was a shock.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19That was Diana as you really hadn't seen her before.
0:25:23 > 0:25:2532,000. 35,000.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29The sale of the 79 dresses held in New York
0:25:29 > 0:25:32made over 3 million for AIDS and cancer charities.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Last time, at 65,000.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37For you, sir.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40The whole world has always followed her fashion moves,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43and it is a complete collection. It will never happen again.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45With the Travolta Dress breaking records
0:25:45 > 0:25:49as the most-expensive item of clothing ever sold at auction.
0:25:49 > 0:25:50I knew she was going to say that!
0:25:50 > 0:25:52200,000!
0:25:52 > 0:25:54It was a suitably momentous,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57metaphorical ending to Diana's royal fashion story.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Now, this beautiful black dress, this was her last public outing
0:26:05 > 0:26:08- that she was seen in this, wasn't it?- It was.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12And this was actually the night after the Christie's auction.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15It was for her 36th birthday at the Tate centenary.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17Cos you gave it to her as a birthday present?
0:26:17 > 0:26:19I gave it to her as a birthday present, yeah.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Now, you were planning more pieces for her, which, sadly,
0:26:22 > 0:26:23she didn't get to wear.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26When she was coming back from Paris, she was going to a premiere.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29A film premiere. And we did, actually,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31the last fitting before she went to Paris.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35And it was probably just about the most daring dress
0:26:35 > 0:26:37she would have worn to that stage,
0:26:37 > 0:26:41it was a very low-cut plunge at the front, very high slit,
0:26:41 > 0:26:43all black sequins.
0:26:43 > 0:26:44With a train, you know.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47And, sadly, she never got back to wear it. Yeah.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55Now, looking back on it, I think, "Wow," you know, "I dressed Diana."
0:26:55 > 0:27:00You know, Princess Diana, who's just like a big part of history now.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03And I was one of the designers who was lucky enough to dress her.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11When Diana died on the 31st of August 1997,
0:27:11 > 0:27:15the outpouring of grief was unparalleled in British history.
0:27:17 > 0:27:18She was buried in a black dress,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21sent by her favourite designer, Catherine Walker.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27We would never get to see the reinventions that Diana had planned,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29the way she'd mature and change.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33But in her short life, along with her trusted designers,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36they managed to craft a new and lasting blueprint
0:27:36 > 0:27:38for the modern royal.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44Diana understood how fashion could be a powerful tool of communication,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47a means to design your own public image.
0:27:47 > 0:27:48And through her mastery of this,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52she transformed herself into one of the most stylish
0:27:52 > 0:27:54and influential women of all time.