Audrey Hepburn Collection: Every dress tells a story

An ivory wedding gown, made for Hepburn by the Rome-based Fontana sisters, is expected to fetch £10,000 to £15,000 — though Audrey Hepburn didn't wear it down the aisle herself. After her scheduled marriage to James Hanson in 1952 was called off, Hepburn asked that the Fontana sisters give it "to someone who could never afford a dress like mine, the most beautiful, poor Italian girl you can find," the catalogue quotes Hepburn as saying. It was given to Amabile Altobella who went on to have a happy and long marriage. A poignant moment of celebrity, generosity and romance embedded in a stunning 1950s gown of elegant understatement. The little black dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's, designed by Givenchy, sold at Christie’s auction on 5 December 2006, for £467,200, almost seven times its £70,000 pre-sale estimate. This is the highest price paid for a dress from a film. Half the proceeds from the current sale will go to the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund and UNICEF.

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photos:Kerry Taylor auctions