Victor Edelstein
{{Short description|London-based couturier}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox fashion designer
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1946|7|10}}
|birth_place = London, England
|occupation = Fashion designer
|education =
|label_name =
|known_for = Dresses of Diana, Princess of Wales, including the Travolta dress
|awards =
|website = http://victoredelstein.com/
|spouse = Annamaria Succi
}}
Victor Edelstein (born 10 July 1946) is a British former couturier best known for his fashion designs for Diana, Princess of Wales, in the 1980s. In 1989 he was described as the English equivalent to Oscar de la Renta, and "the master of the English thoroughbred look".{{cite book |last=Coleridge |first=Nicholas |title=The Fashion Conspiracy|year=1989|publisher=Random House|isbn=1448149878|pages=217–219|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SEWc0Zg_zkQC&pg=PT217}} He now works as a painter.
Early career
Edelstein was born in North London to a Jewish family.{{cite news|last= Granik|first= Darina|title= The Jewish Designers Behind Princess Diana's Most Iconic Looks: Through dresses made by David Sassoon, Victor Edelstein and Jacque Azagury, the People's Princess lives on|url= https://www.heyalma.com/the-jewish-designers-behind-princess-dianas-most-iconic-looks/|access-date=December 1, 2023|newspaper=HeyAlma|date=August 2, 2023}} In 1962 he began working as a trainee designer for Alexon.{{cite web|title=Dress Designers Factsheet|url=http://www.hrp.org.uk/Resources/Dress%20Designers%20Factsheet.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130919060335/http://www.hrp.org.uk/Resources/Dress%20Designers%20Factsheet.pdf|archive-date=19 September 2013|publisher=Historic Royal Palaces (Kensington Palace)|access-date=21 July 2013}} As well as Alexon and Salvador, he worked for Nettie Vogues, Clifton Slimline, and Biba.{{cite book|last=Glenville|first=Tony|title=The Cutting edge : 50 years of British fashion, 1947–1997|year=1996|publisher=V & A Publications|location=London|isbn=1851771948|page=203|edition=1st publ.|author2=Fiona Anderson |author3=Emma Damon |editor=Amy de la Haye|chapter=Selected Glossary of British Designers 1947–1997}} In 1970 he launched his own label although it was short-lived. He then went on to spend three years working for the London branch of Christian Dior S.A. under the direction of Jorn Langberg, before re-establishing his label in 1978. In 1982, Edelstein decided to focus exclusively on haute couture, and also designed for the theatre and ballet.
Clients
File:Blue velvet dress of Diana, Princess of Wales.jpg at the White House in 1985.]]
Edelstein's workroom was based at Stanhope Mews West, London. His most famous design is probably the ink-blue velvet gown he created in 1985 for Diana, Princess of Wales, to wear to the White House, where she danced with actor John Travolta. This dress, on both occasions it sold at auction, set world record prices for a dress worn by Diana (£137,000 ($222,500) in 1996,{{cite book|title=Christie's Review of the Year|year=1996|publisher=Christie, Manson & Woods|page=22|isbn=9780903432498|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GJbrAAAAMAAJ|quote=The highest price of the evening ($222,500, £137,000) was paid for a navy blue velvet Edwardian-inspired dinner dress by London designer Victor Edelstein, who had created the dress for the Princess to attend a state dinner at the White House...}} and £240,000 ($362,424) in 2013).{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/19/world/europe/princess-diana-travolta-dress-auction|title=Dress Princess Diana wore to dance with Travolta auctioned off|last=Jones|first=Bryony|publisher=CNN|date=19 March 2013|access-date=21 July 2013}} In addition to Diana, his clients included the Duchess of Kent, the Princess of Hanover, Princess Michael of Kent, the Countess of Snowdon, Anna Wintour, Tina Brown, Michael Heseltine's wife Anne, and Lady Nuttall, who commented that Edelstein's workroom was the only place her husband liked to accompany her when clothes-shopping. In the late 1980s, his prices were often around the £2,400 to £2,500 mark for an evening dress, with his clients typically buying three or four outfits each season (an evening gown, a suit, and one or two dinner dresses).
Later years
Edelstein closed his fashion house in 1993, explaining that there was no longer a market for luxurious custom-made clothing. Since then, he has established himself as an artist, exhibiting his work throughout Europe and the United States. His portrait of Judith Martin, the American etiquette authority known as 'Miss Manners', was commissioned by her husband as a 70th birthday present for her,{{cite news|last=Martin|first=Judith|title=The portrait of a lady: Judith Martin on sitting for Victor Edelstein|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-portrait-of-a-lady-judith-martin-on-sitting-for-victor-edelstein/2011/03/17/AFWmqSxC_story.html|access-date=28 July 2013|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=8 April 2011}} and now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, Washington.{{cite web|title=Judith Martin in Venice: NPG Portrait Search (Object ID 110823)|url=http://npgportraits.si.edu/eMuseumNPG/code/emuseum.asp?rawsearch=ObjectID/,/is/,/110823/,/false/,/false&newprofile=CAP&newstyle=single|publisher=National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution|access-date=22 July 2013}} His wife, Annamaria Succi, is also a painter.{{cite web|title=Edelstein Biography|url=http://victoredelstein.com/biography.html|last=Edelstein|first=Victor|access-date=22 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515043247/http://victoredelstein.com/biography.html|archive-date=15 May 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}
References
{{reflist|3}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://victoredelstein.com/}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edelstein, Victor}}
Category:British people of German-Jewish descent
Category:English fashion designers
Category:English male painters
Category:Jewish fashion designers
Category:1993 disestablishments in England
Category:1977 establishments in England