David Sassoon, the designer behind Bellville Sassoon, forged a unique career in London fashion by combining haute couture craftsmanship, global influences, and an enviable list of clients including Princess Diana.
David Sassoon is a truly unique London couturier. With an Iraqi-Sephardi background, Royal College of Art training, a career rooted in London’s fashionable “swinging sixties” and a roster of loyal high-profile clients, he has carved his own path through London’s fashion industry. Here we unpack the glamorous world of Bellville Sassoon and celebrate David’s contribution to London as a Fashion City.
The rise of an iconic designer
David Sassoon finished his fashion education in the 1950s. He graduated in 1958 from the prestigious Royal College of Art where, he says, he “found [his] place in the world”. Belinda Bellville, the well-connected founder of the fashion house Bellville et Cie, attended David’s final year show and immediately offered him a job as an assistant designer. Through the following decade, David found his feet at Bellville and came into his own as a highly respected designer.
Prior to David’s involvement, Belinda had been a successful society dressmaker, having started her company in 1953, the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. A former debutante herself, she taught David the rules and etiquette required for this very particular market. An example of David’s glamorous spin on society dressing from this period can be seen in the dress worn by debutante Sarah Seyfried (later Lady Sarah Ferguson Davie), at her Coming Out ball at Badminton House in 1967. The pink ‘Infanta’ silk dress came from the Bellville et Cie 1967 Spanish-themed collection, which featured on the cover of British Vogue in November of the same year. The dress and bolero jacket are elevated by richly decorative beading, transforming a simple silhouette into a show-stopping outfit.
Sassoon and the ‘swinging sixties’
The 1960s were a formative period for David as a designer. He was hugely inspired by the changing fashion scene and buzzing creativity surrounding him. In his book, The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon, he recalls: “London was the place to be, and as a designer working in the middle of this tumultuous cultural explosion, I felt in my element.” As his reputation grew, he steered Bellville into prominence as part of a vibrant scene of younger designers pushing the boundaries of high fashion and ready-to-wear. This was not a typical couture house – modelled after Hardy Amies or Norman Hartnell – but shared more DNA with boutique designers like Jean Muir, Bill Gibb, Ossie Clark and Mary Quant. Sassoon was included in the now famous 1963 Chelsea Embankment photoshoot by Norman Parkinson for Life magazine, which captured these young designers who were changing the face of London fashion.
Bellville Sassoon’s many achievements of the decade included launching their first ready-to-wear collection in 1963. They also started a successful collaboration with Vogue Patterns, featured on multiple Vogue covers, dressed Audrey Hepburn, Dusty Springfield and Jean Shrimpton, and had a huge impact on the American market. David had made his mark on the decade, and in turn, it had an impact on him that has lasted to the present day. Of the period, he wrote: “I fully immersed myself in the ’60s. It just felt like my time.… I think it was possibly the most exciting and creative period in the history of the company. I look back at the ’60s as a great adventure, every day seemed to have some excitement which encouraged one to break new ground in design.”
At the end of the decade, in 1970, David got his name over the door, and Bellville et Cie became Bellville Sassoon, formally reflecting his significance within the company.
From idea to creation
David’s sketchbook on the right (courtesy Fashion Museum Bath), and the completed coat. Both are on display at Fashion City. (ID no.: 83.121/8)
Global influence and personal heritage
The company continued to grow through the 1970s, and David cemented his reputation as a designer of glamorous evening gowns. His style was luxurious, feminine and often romantic, utilising beautiful textiles, colours and patterns. His collections frequently drew inspiration from his global travels and his own Middle Eastern heritage. His parents came to London from Iraq in 1925, and his childhood home was filled with colour and decoration. He suggests that his Middle Eastern background came out in his “preference for colour, adornment and decoration” – a passion that was shared with his business partner Belinda Bellville. He has suggested that they both had a “bohemian streak”.
When creating the 1972 couture collection, David took inspiration from the colours and silhouettes of traditional Chinese garments. An asymmetric dress in the museum’s collection was a hit with the press, and featured in Vogue in April 1972 – modelled by the American-Japanese model Marie Helvin.
A royal couturier
Bellville Sassoon was in great demand with its often high-profile clientele in both the UK and USA, and, according to Tatler, dressed more society brides than any other designer. But it was their designs for royalty that really cemented the brand’s global reputation.
David’s royal journey started in his very early days with Bellville with an appointment to dress an eight-year-old Princess Anne. Permitted into Buckingham Palace through the tradesman’s entrance, the young designer was shown into the nursery to meet his young client. When the Queen herself entered the room, Sassoon remembered his training and stepped backwards to bow – unfortunately colliding with and upsetting a corgi’s water bowl.
His clients were not deterred by the incident, and Sassoon remarkably went on to dress almost every woman in the royal family over his extraordinary career, except the late Queen herself. This included dressing Princess Margaret on her first official Royal tour of America and making countless gowns for Princess Alexandra, The Duchess of Kent, and (the now) Queen Camilla – among others. It is clear from David’s memories that the family became comfortable with his presence – he recalls on one occasion arriving for a fitting with Princess Margaret at Kensington Palace to find her wearing a large plastic bag over a burgundy velvet Yves Saint Laurent suit, mid-whitewashing her walls.
Dressing Princess Diana
David went on to make more than 70 outfits for Princess Diana – and their relationship exemplifies the special connection between a couturier and a high-profile client with complex wardrobe requirements. By the time the young Lady Spencer became a customer, David had two decades of experience to draw on, and his knowledge of royal dressing and etiquette combined with his fashion-forward style made him the perfect designer for the young and somewhat unconventional royal. From the first outfit (a suit worn for the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles) and through many high-profile moments, David became a closely trusted designer for Diana. She also chose to wear Bellville Sassoon in her private wardrobe, showing that her affection for the label went beyond the specific dress codes of public life as a royal.
Of Diana’s style, David wrote in his book: “She broke the rules of royal dressing – but the results were captivating and spectacularly popular…Diana made regal style contemporary – no mean feat, and Belinda, Lorcan [Mullany] and I are proud to have played a part in this.”
The legacy of Bellville Sassoon
David Sassoon is one the last living designers from one of the most famous periods of British fashion: a true London icon. His career spanned at least five editors of British Vogue (though he has now lived through 10!) and he was responsible for fashion moments that have become part of the public consciousness.
His company, Bellville Sassoon, found success during a period of significant change within London’s fashion industry – a testament to its strong client relationships, exceptional creative vision, and the unique collaboration between Sassoon and the company’s founder, Belinda Bellville, who passed away at 94 in May 2024. The pair have made a considerable impact on London fashion and global style, and their work can be found in stylish wardrobes and museum collections around the world. You can learn more about the company, and see some breath-taking examples of their work, in Fashion City – at the Museum of London Docklands until 7 July.
You can also buy our book that accompanies this major exhibition, with a Foreword from David Sassoon, from our online shop, and at a discount when bought alongside your exhibition ticket.
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