Jacques Azagury was not only a celebrated couturier and friend of Princess Diana, but the sartorial architect who transformed her into a global fashion icon whose name was synonymous with sophisticated elegance. That iconic starry gown that broke sales records at an auction in 2023? That’s the dress that brought Azagury and Diana together initially. The designer was at Diana’s side as her marriage publicly unraveled, helping her craft and send a new message with her fashion.
Then-Prince Charles and Diana separated in 1992, and their divorce was made official in 1996. It was during those years that the Moroccan-born Azagury created “The Famous Five” for her, a collection of dresses that showed the people’s princess in a new light—freer, resolute, and serene.
“Even before I met her, like the rest of the world, I had completely fallen in love with this different royal,” Azagury told VF Italia.
The designer, now 69, lives in London. After forty years of work, in 2023, he retired and closed his historic Knightsbridge atelier, where he made fashion history with Diana and so many others. To learn more about the designer’s relationship with the late royal and the last dresses she wore, we caught up with him.
Let’s start with the very first time you met Lady Diana: What was your first impression?
I was presenting my collection at the Hyde Park Hotel with a group of other designers when Anna Harvey, then editor of British Vogue, introduced me to Diana. Although I was very excited, she immediately made me feel comfortable and we started chatting. She kept staring at a certain dress hanging on the coat rack at my booth. About three weeks later I received a call from the palace about scheduling a visit to my atelier. She arrived and said she wanted to wear the dress she had been eyeing: black velvet with embroidered blue stars and tiny glitter drops, with a cornflower blue organza skirt attached to the flared waist.
How would you describe Diana’s sense of style?
At the beginning of her popularity, if I’m honest, she had none: her clothes were clumsy and misguided, everything was too “English.” Although her wardrobe had a rather 1980s vibe, the final effect was still sloppy. So from the very first dress I made for her, I set myself the goal of stripping her of all the ruffled collars and frills and preparing her for the world stage. And it worked.
Can you tell us about the Princess’s taste in fashion? What did she like best?
When we met again in the early 1990s, Diana’s taste was changing rapidly. Through “The Famous Five,” her approach to fashion definitely evolved.
