According to William Ivey Long, Princess Diana achieved a fashion icon status 鈥渢hat hasn鈥檛 been equaled.鈥� A six-time Tony-winning costume designer, he should know.
What made her an icon 鈥渨as the story,鈥� says Long. 鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 an opera: an arc of someone鈥檚 sad rise, fall, burn, and triumph.鈥� Diana, the new musical at the Longacre Theatre, paints a nuanced portrait of Diana鈥攆rom age 19 until her untimely death at 36鈥攖hrough a whopping 38 costumes for star Jeanna de Waal alone. (The average leading lady in a musical typically wears five to 12.)
Every new project (Diana marks his 76th design for Broadway) begins with his purchase of research materials, but Long didn鈥檛 need to for Diana. 鈥淎 royalist at heart,鈥� Long jokes, Princess Diana鈥檚 story has always dazzled him. 鈥淗ere comes big-eared Charles and this romance with this young, beautiful English rose, seemingly na茂ve and seemingly simple,鈥� Long recalls. 鈥淥f course, she was sophisticated.鈥�
That鈥檚 the narrative Long set out to convey. Act 1 starts with girlish Diana, all ruffles and bows. But as her life unfolds, from her courtship with Charlies and their wedding to negotiating public life, so too does her wardrobe. 鈥淭here鈥檚 an extraordinary montage when she learns she can use her clothes and her fashion choices as weapons, because she鈥檚 understanding the dynamic with the press,鈥� Long explains. This montage features five back-to-back costume changes thanks to Long鈥檚 signature before-your-eyes transformations.
But for all the wow factor, every choice鈥攆or every character鈥攕erves the story.
As Diana evolves from a 鈥渂eautiful English rose鈥� to a woman who learned how to weaponize fashion, her wardrobe is in stark contrast to the styles and clothes of her mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, her husband, Prince Charles, and Charles鈥� true love, Camilla Parker Bowles. The Queen is always formal, and dressed in (not coincidentally) jewel tones of blues and burgundies; Charles divines ceremony; in Camilla, 鈥渨e stress the haute country, first woman,鈥� grounded and always in neutral colors highlighting Diana鈥檚 vibrance. 鈥淭hey already found themselves,鈥� says Long of the trio鈥檚 consistency, 鈥渁nd what we鈥檙e watching with Diana鈥檚 choices, she鈥檚 discovering herself.鈥�
Of course, Long delivers certain 鈥渕usts鈥� of the biography. You will see the 鈥渞evenge dress,鈥� the 鈥淓lvis dress,鈥� and more, but with adjustments. He鈥檚 toned down the Dynasty shoulder pads and reshaped silhouettes because 鈥渨e want to see her as beautiful, always. We鈥檙e looking at her through 2020 eyes, so I have done an impression of these classic looks,鈥� Long says. 鈥淥ur valentine to a complicated, tortured, and, ultimately, triumphant woman should always look beautiful.鈥�
鈥淭his is what a musical can do,鈥� Long adds. 鈥淪how you how she takes her power.鈥�
See the first sketches and actual Diana dresses up close in the gallery below:
