Catherine Walker: An autobiography by the private couturier to Diana, Princess of Wales - Tapa dura

Catherine Walker’s career is a story for all women in the ’90s – a rags-to-riches tale that transcends fashion: from her early days selling children’s clothes door-to-door out of a basket, to her first commission from Diana, Princess of Wales.

This year, Catherine Walker celebrates 21 years of exemplary design work during which time she has won awards as Britain’s leading couturier. Today, her clients include Princess Noor of Jordan, Lady Helen Taylor, The Duchess of Kent, Shakira Caine and Catrina Skepper. The foreword is written by Liz Tilberis, a client, and the editor-in-chief at Harper’s Bazaar.

With 200 stunning photographs from such top photographers as Patrick Demarchelier and Platon, Catherine Walker offers the first in-depth look into the life and work of the notoriously reclusive designer, whose fifteen-year relationship with Diana produced the celebrated dresses that have come to define royal taste in recent history. When Diana announced the auction at Christie’s of eighty of her evening gowns – most of them designed by Catherine Walker – the French-born, London-based designer was thrust into the spotlight she has long eschewed. Catherine Walker is Catherine’s story – in her own words.

One of the UK’s leading national magazines will be running extracts of Catherine Walker, which are being used as the basis of a TV ad promotion for the magazine. The extracts will run for 4 weeks.

CATHERINE WALKER: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY THE PRIVATE COUTURIER TO DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES
Foreword Liz Tillers

When the late Diana, Princess of Wales, announced the auction of eighty of her evening gowns- most of them designed by Catherine Walker- the French-born, London-based designer was thrust into the spotlight she has long eschewed. In an elite industry considered a 'loss leader', Walker is one of the few profitable couture designers with an illustrious and devoted clientele. At the top of Walker's remarkably long list of clients stood the Princess, whose signature look was created by Walker.

Catherine Walker's career is a literal rags-to-riches tale that transcends fashion. In a poignant, distinctive voice, Walker shares her experiences of love and marriage, the grief of being widowed with two babies in a foreign land, her early days selling children's dresses door-to-door out of a basket, to a rule-breaking career among the stars and royalty, and her own battle against breast cancer.

The story runs parallel to the arrival of the young Diana, Princess of Wales, whose fifteen-year professional relationship with Catherine Walker saw her develop from a fairy-tale princess to a style icon of legendary proportions. This book is a chronicle of two remarkable women who remained true to themselves, even amidst the pressures of the glamorous worlds of fashion and royalty.

CATHERINE WALKER was born in northern France in 1945. After completing a Maitre-es-Lettres in philosophy at the University of Lille and Aix-en-Provence, she met and married a young lawyer and settled in England. Following a tragic accident in 1975, she was widowed with two baby daughters, Naomi and Marianne. These circumstances prompted her to start her business, both as a therapy to deal with her grief and as a matter of necessity.

In 1988, Catherine Walker celebrates twenty-one years of exemplary design work during which time she has won awards as Britain's leading couturier.

LIZ TILBERIS is editor-in-chief at 'Harper's Bazaar'