Princess Diana’s favorite designers included Catherine Walker, Emanuel, Bruce Oldfield, and Versace. But one lesser-known favorite was Bellville Sassoon—the British couture house founded in 1958 by Belinda Bellville and David Sassoon, who recently passed away at 92.

Diana’s connection with the brand began in 1981 when she visited their Knightsbridge store to find an outfit for her engagement photos. Unrecognized by a shop assistant, she was mistakenly advised to try Harrods instead, according to royal curator Matthew Storey, who organized Kensington Palace’s Royal Style in the Making exhibition in 2021.

Luckily, Diana later returned with her mother, Frances Shand Kydd—a longtime Bellville Sassoon client—and commissioned the designers to create her “going away” outfit after her wedding: a peach silk dress with a white ruffled collar.

“Many people don’t realize that Bellville Sassoon’s relationship with Princess Diana started when she was just 19,” says Cherie Balch, vintage collector and founder of Shrimpton Couture. “This began a lifelong collaboration—they designed over 70 outfits for her.”

Among these were some of her most iconic looks, like the beaded red gown she wore to the For Your Eyes Only premiere in 1982, the pale blue chiffon dress for a V&A gala that same year, and the floral tea dress she famously wore to a polo match in 1988.

Though Bellville Sassoon—now led by Lorcan Mullany, who joined in the late ’80s—also dressed stars like Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy, and Elizabeth Taylor in its heyday, its legacy is most tied to Diana.

“She broke royal fashion rules—but the results were captivating and wildly popular,” Sassoon wrote in The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon. “Diana made regal style modern—no small feat. Belinda, Lorcan, and I are proud to have been part of that.”