Born in Paris in 1906, Diana was raised during the frivolous years between the two world wars - “My parents spent their days having a good time...They never contributed a bloody thing and they and all their friends lived the life of Riley”. Not born into wealth, just socially well connected, Diana quickly became quite the social butterfly that dabbled in the world of fashion. Her early days were spent as part of a milieu that effortlessly blended society and artist in a whirl of activity where she was a friend to Coco Chanel, The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Daisy Fellowes and Christian Bernard.
She did not actually begin her formal career until sometime in her mid thirties, and boasts an impressive career portfolio where she was fashion editor at Harpers Bazaar for twenty-five years, Editor in Chief of Vogue and creator and ambassador of fantastic exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.
In 1982 she was asked how she’d like to appear in a future Costume Institute exhibition. “I’d like to be very luxuriously dressed,” she replied. “I'd like to have the most luxurious black cashmere sweater, the most luxurious black satin pants, very beautiful stockings, very beautiful shoes – marvelous shoes – and whatever would be suitable around the neck.”
Diana died in New York in 1989, aged 86.
