GARDENA, Calif. – Demand for authenticated celebrity-worn fashion continues to grow in today’s market, with numerous lots hitting triple-estimate numbers at Unstoppable: Signature Styles of Iconic Women in Fashion, a sale held January 18 at Julien’s Auctions. Complete results are available at LiveAuctioneers.
Royal fashion reigned supreme with one of Princess Diana’s signature Catherine Walker garments taking center stage. Her black silk velvet cocktail dress hammered at $250,000 and sold for $325,000 with buyer’s premium, more than three times its low estimate of $100,000. Diana wore the dress to a private event, and it came with full documentation. Julien’s holds the world record for the most expensive dress worn by Princess Diana: a Jacques Azagury celestial dress that earned $1.1 million in 2023 at its Hollywood Legends auction with TCM.
From Great Britain to Monaco, another iconic royal look made a grand showing. This time it was Princess Grace, the Hollywood Golden Age star and Academy Award-winning actress. Her 1961 Givenchy ensemble worn to the White House with husband Prince Rainier to meet President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy also hammered at $250,000 and sold for $325,000 with buyer’s premium. The ensemble consists of what’s described as a ‘Kelly-green’ wool tweed sleeveless dress with a gathered skirt, an elbow-length sleeved tweed jacket, and a white hat.
The three-tier tutu skirt worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in the opening credits for HBO’s Sex and the City turned heads once again when it hammered for $40,000 and sold for $52,000 (with buyer’s premium), six and a half times its low estimate of $8,000.
Other Highlights included:
Audrey Hepburn’s 1970 Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche dress, worn to her son’s christening, met its high estimate, hammering for $10,000 and selling for $13,000 with buyer’s premium.
Whitney Houston’s Burberry London cotton trench coat with metallic gold coating, worn at her Mawazine Music Festival performance in Morocco in 2008, hammered for $3,500 and sold for $4,550.
“This showstopping collection of exquisite garments adorned on the royals, Princess Diana and Princess Grace of Monaco and the streetwear-style tutu worn on Hollywood icon Sarah Jessica Parker that made fashion statements at the time of their appearances are now a part of auction history,” said Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s Auctions. “Today’s auction’s results amplify the value and collectability of these fashion looks that became some of the most iconic style moments of our time.”
