Born: London, England, 1947
`She likes body-conscious clothes, and why not? She's got a fabulous figure,' said British couturier Victor Edelstein of his most famous client in 1987. Edelstein will forever be associated with the bare-shouldered velvet dress he made for Diana, Princess of Wales, which she wore while dancing with John Travolta at President Reagan's White House State Dinner in 1985. At the Christie's auction in 1997 it eclipsed every other gown, selling at the record price of $222,500. Descended from a line of dressmakers - both his father and grandfather were in the business - Edelstein trained at Alexon and a Paris couture boutique. In 1967, after several dismissals for being too dreamy, he worked for Barbara Hulanicki at Biba for three years. Then, after a period of self-employment, he became assistant designer at the London couture branch of Christian Dior. He married art dealer Annamaria in 1973 and started his own ready-to-wear business in 1978. In 1982 he decided to concentrate solely on couture.
At 46 years old, Edelstein hung up his scissors and decided to retire. His reasons were both financial and psychological: as he told the Evening Standard in 1993, `I've spent eleven years being polite and constantly watching what I say. I look at something that's tight and instead of saying "We'll let that out", I have to say "We'll ease that over the hips."' Currently painting landscapes in Venice, treading on eggshells is no longer one of his concerns.
