TIMELESS STYLE

On the eve of Princess Diana's birthday, some of her most memorable looks go up for auction

- EMILY NASH & MIRANDA THOMPSON

It's been almost 28 years since the world lost Princess Diana. But ahead of what would have been her 64th birthday on July 1, her style remains as iconic as ever.

"I think she's still influencing fashion," observes designer Jacques Azagury. "She could step out today and it would still be on-trend." That influence is on full display at a potentially record-breaking auction of more than 300 items that include some of her most memorable looks from the likes of Catherine Walker, Elizabeth Emanuel and Versace. Speaking with Hello! at a preview of Princess Diana's Style & A Royal Collection at Julien's Auctions – which will host the Los Angeles sale on June 26 – Jacques recalls how "dressing Diana was more about her" than the clothes.

He's best known for the princess's "famous five" dresses, including three from the last few months of her life: a floor-length red gown worn to a Washington Red Cross gala, the short ice-blue number she donned for a performance of Swan Lake in London and a slinky black Chantilly lace gown given to her by Jacques for her 36th birthday on July 1, 1997 (it would be the last dress she ever wore to a public engagement).