Vintage fashion reigns supreme

She handled Diana's private collection and sold Jerry Hall's wedding gown. Rose Mary Roche meets renowned vintage dress dealer Kerry Taylor.

FROM the valleys of North Wales to the rarified ateliers of haute couture is quite a journey but it is a transition that Kerry Taylor, a leading expert on vintage fashion and couture has executed in her typically understated yet determined style. As Sotheby’s youngest auctioneer (at the age of 21) and subsequently as Kerry Taylor Auctions, she has handled an amazing variety of historical garments as the UK’s premier vintage auctioneer. She has sold pieces that belonged to royals (Princess Diana and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor), Hollywood superstars (Audrey Hepburn, Liz Taylor and Marilyn Monroe), aristocratic society princesses (the Honourable Daphne Guinness), supermodels (Marie Helvin and Jerry Hall) and rock royalty (Michael Jackson).

Her clients include museums, private collectors, fashion houses, fashion and costume designers, and women who buy vintage to wear themselves. One of her well-known Irish clients is the Newbridge Museum of Style Icons who has bought Princess Diana’s wedding dress toile (£17,000), the lavishly embroidered Catherine Walker evening ensemble Diana wore on her state visit to India in 1982 (£55,000) and a bustled Balenciaga cloqué gown worn by Ava Gardner (£11,000). Kerry has glowing praise for William Doyle, the owner of Newbridge, whom she credits with bringing “glamour and sparkle to Ireland”.