Diana, the former Princess of Wales, wore the evening dress with Jakob Schlaepfer embroidery at two events. The producer of fashion and interior design textiles decorated the dress with Schiffli-style embroidered stars and added glued-on glass beads. A Jakob Schlaepfer press release explains that the company also designed the fabric. The dress was created by Moroccan fashion designer Jacques Azagury.
According to the press release, the evening dress sold at a Hollywood auction for a record sum of 1.15 million dollars. An article in the UK's Guardian newspaper quotes from the catalog, which describes the dress as a “beautiful, romantic ballerina-length evening dress”. It continues: “The dress with padded shoulder pads features a black velvet bodice with embroidered stars in metallic thread made from Jakob Schlaepfer fabric with a two-tier royal blue organza skirt with a sash and bow.”
Diana wore the dress to a dinner during a trip to Italy in 1985 with the now King Charles III, and to a concert in Vancouver in 1986. The auctioned dress represents “the luxury that was celebrated in the 1980s”.
