Since London Fashion Week’s inception in 1984, A-listers and glamorous types have flocked to its front rows and parties. Even the British royal family have taken part in the festivities. Princess Diana, a style icon in her own right, made her LFW debut at a Lancaster House opening party in 1985.
It was a momentous year for the event, featuring bold collections from Body Map, Katharine Hamnett, and Vivienne Westwood (who showed her revolutionary ‘Mini-Crini’ Spring/Summer 1986 collection). ‘80s maximalism and underground innovation were brought to the fore, proving the inaugural LFW had been no fluke. London earned its place alongside New York, Paris, and Milan as one of the major cities for emerging and established designers to present their best offerings to a who’s who of fashion fans.
Vivienne Westwood’s ‘Mini-Crini’ collection, shown in Spring 1985 at London Fashion Week.
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Diana appeared at Lancaster House in 1985 wearing a cheery Belville Sassoon number. It was one of 50 outfits the brand would make for her in her lifetime. Designer David Sassoon, owner of the label, told the Los Angeles Times that the late Princess “put British fashion on the map.”
From her first fete in the ‘80s to her front-row debut 10 years later, here’s what to know about all of Princess Diana’s fashion week appearances.
Diana wore a bright quilted dress for a 1985 London Fashion Week reception.
Princess Diana at a reception honoring London Fashion Week in 1985.
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Proving herself ever the risk-taker, Diana brought bright and bold color to the 1985 London Fashion Week reception held at Lancaster House in March of that year. Her frock hit below the knee and resembled a dressing gown, complete with quilted pseudo-lapels and cuffs and spangly tassels. Its plaid pattern featured both polka dots and paisley, with colors layered and stacked for an inverted effect—a far cry from the more classic plaid coat dresses of, for example, Kate Middleton.
The ‘people’s princess’ accessorized with statement-making cobalt tights and what appear to be sapphire drop earrings. She also held a purple-hued clutch, adding another shade to the already vivid ensemble.
At LFW 1994, she wore a look similar to her iconic revenge dress.
Princess Diana in her famous ‘revenge dress’ in November 1994.
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A few years after her separation from then-husband Prince Charles—and the same year she stepped out in her iconic Christina Stambolian revenge dress—Diana returned to LFW. Photos from the October 1994 reception show her attired in a two-piece little black dress. Details made the look anything but boring: beading glittered along the plunging V-neck bodice and an asymmetrical pleat sliced across the skirt. Accessorizing with a pearl choker, red manicure, kitten heels, and a black clutch, Diana exemplified low-key glamour.
She sat front-row at Joe Casely-Hayford in 1995 in a sleek skirt suit.
At long last, in 1995, Diana went from the LFW opening receptions to the front row. The royal attended designer Joe Casely-Hayford’s presentation at the Natural History Museum. Casely-Hayford’s son Charlie later recalled meeting her and witnessing the media attention she attracted. “It was the first time she had sat on the front row at a show; suddenly, all the cameras were on us,” he told The Guardian of the pivotal moment in a 2018 interview.
Princess Diana frequently wore all-black in the mid-’90s. Pictured here at the ‘Apollo 13’ premiere.
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Diana once more stuck to a classic all-black look, donning a skirt and blazer. Her appearance at the show was evidently a surprise, according to archival news footage from AP. “No one knew the Princess was coming, and her arrival caused quite a stir. But as photo after photo of beautiful models was taken, one of the world’s most glamorous women [Diana] was camera-shy,” a reporter explained in the AP segment.
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A March 1995 Evening Standard article about her surprise appearance noted that her outfit was Catherine Walker, a known favorite label of Diana’s.