marieclaire.com.au 75PHOTOGRAPHED BY GETTY IMAGES; MEGA AGENCY; ALAMY; AUSTRALSCOPE. TEXT BY GILES HATTERSLEY
12 Holidaying in
Spain in 1987 in a
lemon trouser
suit. 13 Polished
in polka dots (by
Victor Edelstein)
on Derby Day
in 1986. 14 At
the 1989 British
Fashion Awards
the princess
wore a beaded
Catherine Walker
gown and bolero (she
called it her “Elvis
dress”). 15 Leaving
the gym in 1997
in a look still
mimicked today.Cuptiunt que nus
doluptur, sum
corepratios pro bea
voluptae num eum ab
ium aped quate etur
magniet magnim
quatemperit aspicae
rrovitatur? Qui siment
mhgmfgmglaudant.16 At the ballet in a floaty
Gina Fratini dress in 1991.
17 Post-divorce, Diana stepped
out in this embroidered sheath
by Catherine Walker. 18 She
sparked a trend for wet-look
hair in the late ’90s. 19 Stunning
in Versace in Sydney in 1996.SAM MCKNIGHT
HAIRSTYLIST
The first time I met the
princess, she taught me how
to put on a tiara. We were on
a shoot in 1990, and not long
after that I started doing her
hair, which I continued doing for
the next seven years.
You have to realise she wasn’t a
clothes addict. She loved getting dressed
up, but she wasn’t a fashion victim. Not
long after we met, I helped to hook
Diana up with Gianni and Donatella
[Versace]. They went on to have a won-
derful relationship. Looking back, it
heralded the era of the 1990s grown-up
princess. She had the body of a model,
was going [into] her 30s, was single and
had found the confidence of a woman
who felt comfortable in her own skin.
I did a lot of shoots with her and
Patrick Demarchelier. She wasn’t at herI’d help her with her make-up – she
had sensitive skin.
Diana evolved. She
listened to the designers,
although she didn’t necessar-
ily go along with what they
thought or wanted. She began
to realise that she looked
good in clothes and it became
an unexpected bonus for her.
Catherine Walker’s designs suited
her really well, and Caroline Charles
and Gina Fratini in the early years. Did
she buy all her own clothes? Absolutely.
The bills were always paid. Was I a fan
of the Versace era? I was very much
a fan of the things she wore by
Victor Edelstein – the “John Travolta
dress” was stunning.
What didn’t I love? Oh, I couldn’t
possibly say. Nobody is ever going to get
it right all the time. Isn’t it rather
endearing that she made mistakes, just
like the rest of us?most comfortable in front of a camera in
a studio, but Patrick made her feel really
at ease. To this day I think his are some
of the most wonderful pictures of her.
Some of the best paparazzi shots
are of her coming out of the gym. We
[mimicked this by] dampening her hair
on one shoot. It was a gorgeous image.
Was she more into hair than fash-
ion? Not as such, but she liked to look
polished. I’d say to her: “You don’t really
need me on this trip. You can just mess
your hair up yourself.” But she said,
“You may like it like that and I like it like
that, but when I go into schools or visit
charities, they don’t want to see messed-
up hair, they want to see the princess.”
She knew the role she had to play.
I love the clothes Catherine Walker
did for her. She understood what Diana
needed: clothes that wouldn’t crease,
that looked good when she was getting
out of a car. Walker was a true couturi-
er, and Diana was a perfect subject.1314161718191512