The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon

This is the story of Bellville Sassoon, the design house whose name has been synonymous with the world of glamour for the last 50 years. It begins in the couture world of the ’50s where straight out of the Royal College of Art, David Sassoon joined society dressmaker, Belinda Bellville and was instantly thrust into the world of debs, duchesses, the aristocracy and the brand new jetsetters. This is a fashion book with a difference – gossipy, fun, informative and revealing – it is a fascinating personal recollection of a sparkling career spanning 5 decades, dressing some of the world’s most beautiful and charismatic women of their day, among them Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Ava Gardner. As the formality of the ’50s gave way to the swinging Sixties, the new design partnership of Bellville Sassoon soon became Britain’s foremost couture label – THE label for High Society dressing. Soon their regal clientele included Princess Alexandra, Princess Michael of Kent, Princess Anne, the Duchess of Kent, the Duchess of Gloucester and the Duchess of York. He was a favourite designer of the late Princess Margaret who became the world’s first international royal glamour icon. However, it was Princess Diana, for whom he made more than 70 outfits, including her trousseau and going away outfit, with whom he forged a particularly warm and close personal friendship, and this book reveals many fond and unpublished anecdotes. Add to this the challenge of creating uniquely glamorous dresses around some of the world’s most magnificent jewellery, many of them priceless family heirlooms from the most aristocratic names in the land, and for some of the most glittering formal occasions. This all adds up to a powerful Sassoon couture cocktail. In October 2008 David Sassoon received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals in Chicago, in recognition of his longstanding and highly successful association with Vogue patterns worldwide. Today, glamour is back with a capital G – but for glamour guru David Sassoon it never went away.