David Emanuel (fashion designer)

David Emanuel (born 17 November 1952) is a Welsh fashion designer who designed, with his wife, Elizabeth, the wedding dress worn by Lady Diana Spencer at her wedding to Prince Charles in 1981.

He participated in the British reality television show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2013 and came runner-up to Westlife singer Kian Egan.

He is the host and creative director of the

Emanuel worked for two seasons as an assistant to royal designer Hardy Amies at Savile Row and, aged 25, he launched his own fashion house, Emanuel, in 1977, working in partnership with his wife Elizabeth, with whom he had two children—Oliver and Eloise. They decided to close their ready–to–wear shop in 1979, so that they could concentrate on the couture (custom made) side of the business, and became a favourite designer of Lady Diana Spencer before her marriage. In 1981, the Emanuels were chosen to design the wedding dress worn by Diana. The dress—seen by over 700 million people worldwide—was made of ivory silk, pure taffeta and antique lace, with 10,000 pearls and sequins, and had a 25 ft train.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} Of the dress, Lisa Marsh writes in the Fashion Encyclopedia that "Creations by artists from Botticelli to Renoir and Degas were used as influences, as were photographs of some of the more romantic women in history. The garments seen on Greta Garbo in Camille, Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind, and Marlene Dietrich in The Scarlet Empress were all recreated to some degree."^[1] David continued to dress Diana, Princess of Wales after her wedding.^[6]

A copy of Diana’s wedding dress made by Emanuel sold at auction in 2005 for £100,000, twice the original estimate. There was some controversy surrounding the auction. The dress' owners, Madame Tussauds, said that it had been made "in case of any hiccup or disaster", and that it had been tried on by Lady Diana Spencer the morning of her wedding. David Emanuel was quoted by the Western Mail, saying "To say it is a direct replica is untrue. There is no such thing. We did not make one. Diana categorically never tried this dress on, on her wedding day or at any other time, and to my knowledge never even saw it. It wasn't even made to her exact measurements, and we, of course, are the only ones who would know that." The copy of Diana's dress had been given to Madame Tussauds after the wedding in 1981 and was placed on display.^[7]

Emanuel has dressed some of the world's most famous women;

The 'Diana' dress was a defining moment in Emanuel's career. His profile soared and he became a household name. As well as allowing them to arrange licensing agreements for items such as perfume, linens and sunglasses, Emanuel's opinion on fashion and trends was often sought and he has been interviewed by the main journalists and talk show hosts in Britain and by some in the United States such as Barbara Walters, Jane Pauley, Merv Griffin and Joan Rivers.^[1][2]

Emanuel became a television presenter, creating the

Cookery programmes marked a departure from fashion for Emanuel. He hosted the Out to Lunch series, where he cooked for celebrity guests, and Cooking with David Emanuel, lunch at his home in Windsor, Berkshire and Ladies who Lunch—a chat show over lunch. He also writes a weekly 'Style' column in the Western Mail, the national newspaper of Wales.^{[2][3][6][11]}

A fluent speaker of Welsh, Emanuel hosted the BBC 2 programme on the National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh: Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru). As a guest of Peter Karrie, on The Peter Karrie Show, David sang The Queen of Disguise, before being interviewed with one of his clients, the actress Joan Collins. BBC Wales invited Emanuel to be a guest at their 75th Anniversary Concert where he sang three songs in Welsh before an audience of four thousand people.^[2]

Design

Emanuel's wardrobe and set design portfolio includes:

• Set designer for Cinderella—premiered at the Richmond Theatre, London, and went on to be staged at the London Palladium, Cinderella had a cast over its five-year run that included Lionel Blair, David Essex, Patsy Kensit, Dame Anna Neagle, Paul Nicholas, and Des O'Connor—and Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus—premiered by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and later staged at La Scala, Milan.^[2][6]
• Wardrobe designer for several actresses: Jane Seymour in War and Remembrance—the award-winning television film, of Herman Wouk's novel—; Susan Hampshire in House Guests—the Francis Durbridge thriller, at the Savoy Theatre, London—; Lulu in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Song and Dance—; and Siân Phillips as 'The Snow Queen'—in "Joy to the World", the annual Christmas spectacular at The Royal Albert Hall, London.^[2]
• Styling the cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Sunset Boulevard at the Sydmonton Festival before its West End opening.^[2]
• Designing for and styling Lesley Garrett, including designing her concert performances and her BBC2 show, Viva la Diva – A Night at the Opera with Lesley Garrett. One of the dresses David designed for Lesley—red silk taffeta and crinoline—became the inspiration for her album Soprano in Red (1995).^[2]

As well as designing sets and costumes for ballet, film, concert, music videos, ad campaigns, theatre and television productions, Emanuel has completed commissions to design a complete range of uniforms and accessories for Virgin Atlantic, in 1991, and the Britannia Airways flight attendant uniforms, in 1999.^[1]

Bibliography

• Emanuel, David; Emanuel, Elizabeth (1983). Style for All Seasons. Pavilion Books.
  ISBN 978-0-907516-13-2
  .
• Emanuel, David; Emanuel, Elizabeth (2006). A Dress for Diana. Pavilion Books.
  ISBN 978-1-86205-749-4
  .

External links

• Diana Spencer's Wedding Portrait Archived 29 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
• "Shop The World" showreel on
  YouTube