Princess Diana had a specific vision for her Met Gala dress in 1996.
In new Hulu documentaries In fashion: 90s, fashion designer John Galliano spoke about the parameters the late Princess of Wales had when it came time to design her dress for what would become her only Met appearance. Galliano was creative director at Dior at the time and spoke of the magic of tapping to create a look tailored for a princess.
“I remember one day we all jumped into this old van and went to London, where we met Princess Diana. She was invited to the Met and would wear one of my dresses,” Galliano said in the first volume of the documentary, which premiered on 13 September.
Former British Vogue editor Edward Enninful described the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual benefit as “the most influential red carpet in the world,” raising the stakes for Princess Diana’s fashion statement at the party. Diana made her debut at the Met Gala in New York in December 1996 with her friend and ex Harper’s Bazaar editor Liz Tilberis, and Princess Diana attended just months after her divorce from the future King Charles was finalized.
Princess Diana at the Met Gala in New York in December 1996 Patrick McMullan via Getty Images The most controversial Met Gala looks of all time, from Kim Kardashian and Rihanna to Princess Diana
“It was like a blessing. I mean like, wow,” Galliano said on the show. “We went to Kensington Palace and talked about the drawings. I was trying to push for pink, but she wasn’t having it. ‘No, not pink!’ It was real, real fun.”
“So we made the dress and the fitting afterwards, and it was beautifully made,” he said of the “proper” construction. “Fast forward the event and I remember her getting out of the car,” Galliano said — and gasped. “I couldn’t believe it. She ripped the corset off.”
“She didn’t want to wear a corset,” he said of the fashion move, in true Diana style. “She felt so liberated. She tore off the corset. The dress was so much more…sensual,” he emphasized, recalling her electrifying ascent up the Met steps.
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(From left) John Galliano, Liz Tilberis, Princess Diana, Helene Arnault and Bernard Arnault at the Met Gala in New York in December 1996.
Stephane Cardinale/Sygma via Getty
Princess Diana’s most glamorous look of all time
“I mean, wow! Diana was my first couture client,” Galliano said.
The British designer was one of fashion’s most influential visionaries during the 1990s and early 2000s, before turning his career around in 2011 following a series of anti-Semitic and racist incidents. He was fired from Dior as creative director, retired from fashion and returned to design for Maison Margiela, holding that position since 2014.
Princess Diana’s much talked about fashion coup was at the 1996 Met Gala, where she wore a boudoir-like navy blue silk slip dress with a black lace trim from Galliano’s debut couture collection as creative director of Dior. She completed the look with a matching silk robe-like top (which she later took off), a statement pearl and sapphire necklace, and a mini navy blue quilted Dior bag, which the label renamed Lady Dior in her honor.
The late Princess of Wales was known as Lady Diana Spencer before she married the future king in 1981, and the handbag became one of her handbags.
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Princess Diana at the Met Gala in New York in December 1996.
Richard Corkery/NY Daily News via Getty Images
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During the 1990s, Diana began to experiment more with her style, wearing shorter hemlines and sexy silhouettes. The 1996 Met Gala would ultimately prove to be her only appearance at the event, as she died following a car accident in Paris in August 1997. The late Princess of Wales is remembered as a style icon, and her daughters-in-law Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle continue to take the style cues today. signs from her.
“I think we were all so enchanted and fascinated by Princess Diana,” Vogue said editor Anna Wintour in the new documentaries. “She was the most famous woman in the world at the time. She enjoyed fashion and the spotlight she put on British designers in particular.”
In fashion: 90s Volume I debuted on Hulu on September 13th, and Volume II will premiere on September 20th.
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Source: HIS Education