This has been the year of Di-mania – and no wonder. Princess Diana was the ORIGINAL media-savvy influencer and now Gen-Z is captivated…
A dress worn by Princess Diana in 1985 recently fetched £900,000 ($1.148) million at auction – the highest price ever for clothing worn by the Princess.
In November, The Crown returned for its sixth and final series, with Elizabeth Debicki reprising her role as Diana. Even haters of the series unanimously admit that Debicki’s interpretation was terrifyingly good.
Pick up a copy of the latest issue of Tatler magazine and if you look at the photo of Princess Diana on the cover, you would think the year was 1984 and not 2024.
The date of the portrait was in fact 1988 and was taken by David Bailey. He tells the story of his assistant who, while sitting, dropped a light on the princess’s head.
The January issue of Tatler, featuring a never-before-seen portrait of Princess Diana by David Bailey on the cover
Netflix’s shoot from actress Elizabeth Debicki that recreates Mario Testino’s last official photos of Diana, Princess of Wales.
One that The Crown makes a lot of is that Dodi Al Fayed proposed to Diana before her death
Elizabeth Debicki recreates Princess Diana’s landmine campaign photo
Below the portrait is the caption ‘Diana: a battle for her legacy’.
In 2023, more than any other year since her death in 1997, Diana has been discussed, dissected and deliberated. It was a year of Diana mania.
Personally, I’m thrilled about Diana’s return to the public consciousness.
Well, re-entering is the wrong word, because she never left. What I mean is that I’m glad she’s gotten into the minds of a new, younger audience: Generation Z – those born roughly in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
There are TikTok accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers whose content revolves around Diana, created by people born long after her death.
Why does this make me so happy? Because Diana was, as her brother Earl Spencer said in her eulogy, “unique, complex, extraordinary and irreplaceable.”
Eloise Moran, creator of the viral Instagram account @ladydirevengelooks (currently with 114,000 followers) and author of a best-selling book of the same name, was only five when Diana died, but was inspired to create her Instagram account after breaking up with her finding a friend and solace in Diana’s post-divorce empowerment.
In a world and a social media landscape that is insatiably consumed by young adults but dominated by filtered versions of beauty and perfection, Princess Diana is – at least as far as Gen Z is concerned – a powerful dose of normality.
In her willingness to discuss her struggles – her crushing lack of self-esteem and subsequent years of self-torture from bulimia – Diana strikes a powerful chord in a world that has never been more aware of vulnerability and the quest for wellness.
Prince Diana in her ‘black sheep’ sweater walks with Prince Charles at a polo meeting in Windsor, June 1983
Alice Hare and her Warm & Wonderful ‘black sheep’ sweater is one of her key Diana looks
Warm & Wonderful’s fitted “Diana Edition” cotton sheepskin jumper on sale in 2023 for £270
Princess Diana’s ‘preppy’ fashion is a big hit with Gen Z this year and can be seen on all major high streets
I couldn’t think of a better role model for my youngest sister, who is 18.
Diana was a woman extraordinarily ahead of her time. A woman after the heart of Gen Z, before they even existed.
She knew the power of her image and the power of tactical self-projection and played with this – think of the scene in the latest series of The Crown where Debicki as Diana negotiates with photographers and tells them to take pictures of her in her leopard print swimsuit if they agree to leave her alone for the rest of the day.
This is exactly what Gen Z is doing on Instagram: they are playing with the power of their image and self-project in a smart, thoughtful and curated way to influence public perception of themselves. Step aside, Kim K. Please, Diana was the original influencer.
And less seriously (but still seriously – clothes are important and not stupid, thank you), every generation can benefit from and enjoy devouring Diana’s covertly communicative style.
What a revelation it was when I realized that Diana used clothes to talk while gagged.
The clothing companies she loved have seen a revival thanks to a new generation’s fascination with her.
Warm & Wonderful, makers of that black sheep sweater, are back for 2020. Gottex has re-released Diana’s leopard print swim suit this year.
Eloise Moran’s viral Instagram account @ladydirevengelooks has 114,000 followers
Princess Diana wore the Gottex leopard print swimsuit in 1997
The Gottex Diana Halter Neck Swimsuit is on sale this year for £199.99
The Princess of Wales at Alton Towers in her Philadelphia Eagles varsity jacket
The iconic 90’s Eagles Letterman Jacket is back and is modeled by the beautiful Kylie Kelce, wife of Jason Kelce who plays for Eagles
Last month, the Philadelphia Eagles made available to the public for the first time a jacket they made for Diana in the ’90s.
The list goes on. In June, supermodel and Gen Z quasi-god Kendall Jenner walked the runway at Jacquemus’ Princess Diana-inspired fashion show in Paris wearing a knock-off version of Diana’s iconic pearl and sapphire choker.
I think Diana would have been happy with 2023. She would have been happy that what mattered most to her – her work for the oppressed and voiceless – has found a new audience.
Even if that audience starts off by just obsessing over her vintage sweatshirts.