Renae wanted to buy Princess Diana’s dress so much, she mortgaged her house

2 days ago 4

Ask any fashion lover, and they’ll be able to rattle off a list of their favourite designers. But what makes a fan turn into a collector? Claudia Chan Shaw, co-host of Antiques DownUnder on 9Gem* and author of Collectomania, says many collections start by accident “because there is an association and comfort in what the person is looking at”.

Chan Shaw says one of the key features of a fashion collection, as opposed to items such as stamps or seashells, is the collector’s ability to share their hobby with the world. “[Collecting] can be quite a solitary experience, whereas a vintage fashion collector, the minute they walk out the door they are saying something.”

Here, three collectors share their stories, including their best finds and the pieces that got away.

“Every piece has a unique story”: Renae Plant, 54

“I met Princess Diana twice: in Yandina on the Sunshine Coast in 1983, when I was 12, and in Sydney in 1988. I can’t explain how it felt when she looked me straight in the eyes. I still get emotional thinking about it.

My Diana collection started with magazine posters I’d get from my friend’s dad, a newsagent. After Diana’s passing in 1997, I was living in New York and attended an auction of her dresses at Christie’s, just to watch.

In 2014, my husband and I were going to invest in a restaurant, but instead I used the money to buy a burgundy wool coat-dress that was famous because Diana was pictured wearing it while carrying Prince William. Then I got the iconic ice-blue Versace dress she wore in 1991; we took out a second mortgage on our home in Los Angeles to purchase it, and we outbid Kensington Palace.

Princess Diana on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar in 1997 following her death, wearing an Atelier Versace gown Renae Plant later bought at auction.

Once I got serious about collecting, I wrote to William and Prince Harry, as it was important to me to have their blessing; William wrote back, and we have corresponded a couple of times since.

I have now collected more than 100 pieces of Diana’s clothing, and nearly 3000 pieces all up, including her baby shoes and her wedding slippers. I have built my collection into a 3-D virtual museum and I’m working on turning it into a travelling exhibition, to launch in late 2026.

All the pieces have a unique story, but the one that gives me goosebumps is a dress Jacques Azagury made Diana in 1997 that she never got to wear – it still has the pins in it from her last fitting.

In June, I had the opportunity – and the funds – to buy the outfit Diana was wearing the second time I met her – it’s known as the ‘caring dress’ and was one of her most famous. I never thought it would come up for auction; I thought it was just gone, part of history. I collapsed when the auction ended [at $520,000] and we’d won.”

Collector Renae Plant (left) winning Princess Diana’s “Caring” dress at an auction, where she bought it for $520,000 in June.

“I wouldn’t want to break it up”: Sai-Wai Foo, 50

“I’ve known Toni Maticevski since we were students at RMIT [in Melbourne] in the 1990s. During uni, I think he made me a little scarf or something, which I still have. And for my birthday in the late 1990s, he made me a black silk top, which I still have – I’ve not got rid of anything. He once gave me a white dress that I tried to get a stain out of and I shrank it, and that just kills me. He just laughed.

I have about 100 pieces in my collection, plus ephemera such as parade invites and exhibition catalogues. I have shoes as well; I have these kangaroo-skin shoes, another pair of which are in the National Gallery of Victoria.

Sai-Wai Foo has been collecting Toni Maticevski pieces since they met at university in the 1990s.

Most of the pieces I have bought, including at his sample sales. They’re my favourites, the pieces no one else has. I’ve also got some pieces in a custom colour; it’s really demi-couture.

One of my favourite pieces is a ruffled coral bolero with rouleau straps that was once on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar. I wore it to the Melbourne Fashion Festival, where I now work; I re-wear his pieces in different ways all the time.

Toni’s pieces act as armour. If you are not feeling very brave, they are great to put on – you stand a little straighter; it kind of pulls you in. If you go to an event wearing Maticevski you always get noticed. For a function this year I borrowed a floral coat from another friend – it’s the one piece of his I regret not buying. I like that people can project their personality into Toni’s things.

Foo in the Toni Maticevski coat she loaned from a friend, but wishes she bought.

I’ve worked with Toni at various stages in different roles, including helping with his early shows, but that stopped when COVID hit. My collection is a collection, but it’s also a catalogue of our friendship. I’d probably donate it to an institution as a whole, so it tells that story. I wouldn’t want to break it up.”

“It’s hard to put a price on it”: Valeria Zlatnik, 31

“When I was in my mid-20s, I left a corporate career in marketing and didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I had always loved fashion, so I started making connections with vintage sellers all over the world and slowly turned it into a business, Prémode.

Valeria Zlatnik turned her love of Tom Ford era Gucci (right) into a collection, and a business, Prémode.

I’d had a personal interest in Tom Ford-era Gucci for quite some time – he took over there in 1994, the year I was born, so my love of it developed later in life – and I would get a piece here and there. My collection just grew organically.

My first piece was a belt. It was so different because the buckle was on the side – it symbolised the way Ford manipulated basic elements in a creative way. Since then, I have probably collected 50 to 100 pieces, though I have sold some. I don’t really wear them.

About 18 months ago, I received an order for a suit – a jacket and trouser. It was a runway look and very rare, so I was reluctant at first to sell it. When I looked at the shipping label and saw ‘Gucci, Florence’ as the address, I gasped. I reached out, wanting to confirm it was legitimate; it had been ordered by one of their archivists, who told me it was missing from Gucci’s collection and they were very excited to receive it. It was a pinch-me moment. They got a bargain – I think I sold it for less than $5000, and I had seen something similar for $10,000.

Probably my most valuable piece now is a 1998 ‘G-string skirt’ in the [pink] colour – it was in their ad campaign. It would be hard for me to even put a price on it, so I’m keeping it. But you know what? Someone might put the same one on eBay, not realising the value, and sell it for $200.”

* 9Gem is part of Nine, owner of this masthead.

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