Wednesday, 9 December 2009 at 09:41, Bloomberg
A Chantilly lace cocktail gown worn by Audrey Hepburn in the 1966 film “How to Steal a Million” sold last night at an auction in London for £60,000 ($97,600), three times its upper estimate.
The Givenchy dress, bought by an anonymous bidder, was one of a group of more than 40 Hepburn items offered by specialist auctioneer Kerry Taylor in association with Sotheby’s. Most of the items, dating from the 1950s and ‘60s, were entered by Tanja Star-Busmann, a lifelong friend of the Belgian-born actress. Hepburn regularly sent her boxes of unwanted clothes.
A turquoise cloche silk cocktail gown acquired by Hepburn from Givenchy’s 1966 autumn/winter collection was bought by a US-based museum for £18,000, said Taylor in an emailed statement. It had been expected to sell for as much as £12,000.
The sale also included the bridal gown made in 1952 by the Fontana Sisters for Hepburn’s planned wedding to UK businessman James Hanson. At the time, the star was on location in Italy filming “Roman Holiday.” After the wedding was called off, the ivory satin dress was given by Hepburn to a young Italian, Amabile Altobella, for her marriage to a farm worker. Altobella was the seller.
The rediscovered gown, complete with a photograph of Hepburn wearing it, sold to a private collector for £13,800, beating a high estimate of £12,000.
The Hepburn lots achieved a total of £268,320, more than doubling the presale valuation of £100,000. All realised prices included 20 per cent auction house fees.
Half the auction’s proceeds will go to the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Foundation and UNICEF.
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