By Amarachi Orie, CNN
(CNN) — Princess Diana’s head-turning “revenge dress,” which broke royal protocol and created a sensational pop culture moment, is going on sale for the first time in nearly 30 years.
The showstopping evening gown by Greek designer Christina Stambolian will be exhibited in London this month, before heading to Hong Kong, Geneva in Switzerland, and finally New York, where it is expected to sell for up to $300,000 when it goes under the hammer on December 9.
The late Princess of Wales wore the black, silk, off-the-shoulder, asymmetric and figure-hugging dress on June 29, 1994.
It was an historic day, as her then-husband, now-King Charles III, was going to accidentally admitted in an ITN documentary that he’d been unfaithful. The revelation had been leaked days prior by the British press and the documentary aired to 13 million viewers nationwide.
Yet Diana chose to arrive for a party at the Serpentine Gallery in London in a gown so captivating it received its own moniker, becoming known as “the revenge dress.”
Pairing the fashion statement with black heels, a black clutch, bold red nails and a jeweled chocker – created from an antique diamond and sapphire brooch that Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, gifted her for her wedding, according to Sotheby’s – Diana reclaimed her image in the public’s imagination.
“Fashion can be a language when words fail or are simply not enough. Princess Diana understood that instinctively,” said Morgane Halimi, head of handbags and fashion at Sotheby’s, in a statement Thursday.
“On her own terms, Princess Diana turned the dress into one of the most powerful messages she ever made, during one of the most scrutinised and emotionally charged episodes of her life,” Halimi added.
At the time, black was only considered appropriate for royals during funerals. Stambolian’s design is a version of the little black dress, a fashion statement first conceived in 1926 by Coco Chanel to reimagine black, from a color of mourning to one of sophisticated chic, and free women from the fashion constraint of earlier times, according to Sotheby’s.
Diana made the impulsive decision to wear the black design, which had been sitting in her closet for three years out of fear it was “too daring,” Stambolian said in the 2013 Channel 4 documentary “Princess Diana’s Dresses: The Auction.”
The dark outfit and its pop culture moment has since been memorialized in clothing lines, on social media and on TV programs such as Netflix’s historical drama “The Crown.”
“What became a global viral moment – long before social media made the term mundane – also gave license to anyone, but especially women, to use fashion beyond adornment and much more intentionally and meaningfully: as a shield, a weapon or both,” Halimi said.
“What has endured across the decades is not the scandal surrounding that evening, but Princess Diana’s show of confidence and self-possession,” Halimi added.
‘Something special’
Diana “wanted to look a million dollars” when she stepped out in the dress, according to the stylist that helped her get ready, Anna Harvey, Sotheby’s said.
Considering one of Diana’s less famous dresses far exceeded estimates in 2023, selling for $604,800, this dress could hold more value than estimated. After all, Diana’s famous “black sheep” sweater broke records in 2023 when it sold for more than $1.1 million.
The “revenge dress” was last sold in June 1997, when Diana auctioned 79 of her dresses to raise funds for breast cancer and AIDS charities, Sotheby’s said. It then appeared at charity fundraiser events in Scotland before it was last seen on display at the country’s Paisley Museum nearly three decades ago.
A rare copy of the catalogue from the original sale – which credits Prince William with the sale’s design and which was signed by the late princess and the dress designer – will be sold with the gown.
“My late husband and I knew that this dress was something special,” said the anonymous consignor who bought the dress in 1997. “Princess Diana was walking into the worst night of her life and you would never know it to look at her. It went from a cocktail dress to a statement in the time it took to photograph her.”
“Thirty years on, you can say the words anywhere in the world and everyone knows exactly which dress you mean,” they added. “I hope it goes to someone who will enjoy owning it as much as we did.”
Some of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to health service charity NHS Lothian Charity, according to the auction house.
The dress will be unveiled at Sotheby’s London on September 18 and displayed until September 24, before exhibiting in Hong Kong from October 1 to 15, in Geneva from November 6 to 11, and in New York from December 2.
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