Princess Diana's famous appearance at the 1996 Met Gala, which took place in New York just months after her divorce from King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales, saw the young royal pull off a surprise act of rebellion that left the designer of her dress in shock, according to a new docuseries.
Diana was invited to attend a special Met Gala in December 1996 by her close friend, the Harper's Bazaar magazine editor Liz Tilberis. The event opened a retrospective exhibition about the work of the legendary couturier Christian Dior.
It was decided that for the event, the princess would wear a design from the House of Dior, which had recently been taken over by a new creative director, the British designer John Galliano.
The dress, a blue lingerie-inspired, bias-cut slip dress with lace straps, caused a stir in fashion circles and was not deemed a total success by the media, as Diana presented an uncharacteristically avant-garde appearance.
In a new Hulu docuseries, In Vogue: The 90s, Galliano said it wasn't only the fashion press that was shocked by Diana's appearance that night. He was, too.
"I remember one day we all jumped into this old van, and we went to London, where we met Princess Diana. She'd been invited to the Met, and she would wear one of my dresses," he said of the prized commission.
"It was like a blessing. I mean, wow. We went to Kensington Palace and discussed drawings, and I was trying to push for pink, but she was not having it. 'No, not pink!' That was real, real fun."
The design, he said, was executed to the meticulous precision of the Christian Dior couture atelier. The dress was a significant moment in his career because it would be his first work for Dior, coming more than a month before he debuted his highly anticipated first collection for the house.
"So we did the dress and subsequent fittings, and it was beautifully done—you know, very kind of correct. You know, the corset—everything was correct," he said.
"Fast-forward to the event, and I just remember her getting out of the car," he continued. "I was like [shock]. I couldn't believe it. She'd ripped the corset out."
Describing the unexpected and rebellious move from the royal, Galliano said that her alteration made it more sensuous.
"She didn't want to wear the corset," he said. "She felt so liberated. She'd torn the corset out. The dress was much more sensuous. The cameras went mental. The paparazzi was blinding, which made the dress really bling and the jewels and everything."
The gala came at the end of an important year for Diana. It saw her officially divorce Charles, ending their 15-year marriage, which also altered her public role. No longer a working member of the royal family, Diana changed her working relationships with a number of charities and organizations. She also lost the Her Royal Highness title.
Looking to the future, the princess focused on new projects and causes, including her anti-landmine campaigning and desire to make documentary films on humanitarian issues.
Unfortunately, those plans were cut short. Eight months after the Met Gala, Diana died following a high-speed car crash in Paris, where she had been traveling with her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed.
A number of Diana's influential friends from the fashion industry attended her funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 6, 1997, including Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace, Catherine Walker and Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
Speaking about the royal in the new docuseries, Wintour said she "captivated" people.
"I think all of us were so captivated and fascinated by Princess Diana," she said. "At that time, she was the most famous woman in the world. She was enjoying fashion and the spotlight that she put on particularly British designers."
Galliano headed the House of Dior for 14 years before he was fired in 2011 after footage was made public of him making antisemitic remarks. In a statement released at the time, he said: "Antisemitism and racism have no part in our society. I unreservedly apologize for my behavior in causing any offense."
In Vogue: The 90s is available to stream now on Hulu.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
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