The Scottish Mail on Sunday

Audrey under the hammer

Her style was as stunning as her looks. Now Audrey Hepburn’s treasures are for sale, as her sons reveal the touching tales behind them

- by David Wigg Audrey Hepburn, The Personal Collection: christies.com/audreyhepb­urn

WITH her elfin face, hand-span waist and singular sense of style, Audrey Hepburn was as much a fashion icon as she was a film star, feted for standout roles in Roman Holiday, Sabrina and My Fair Lady. She might have been best-known for the little black dress and cat’s-eyes sunglasses she wore as Holly Golightly in her most famous film, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, but her off-screen wardrobe was also the stuff of sartorial legend. Givenchy couture, ankle-grazing cigarette pants and stripy Breton tops, ballet flats which referenced her early ambition to be a dancer, and classic trench coats all defined the Hepburn look.

Now her two sons, Sean Ferrer by her first marriage and Luca Dotti by her second, are selling their collection of her clothes, as well as some unique movie memorabili­a, in an auction causing global excitement.

The sale in London this week will give fans a glimpse of the woman behind the image, and allow style-hunters to snap up some of her iconic pieces.

Her sons said: ‘It is with great joy that we wish to share her spirit through this sale with all who’ve enjoyed her films, her sense of style, and her humanitari­an legacy. What we will remember is her sweetness.’

The daughter of a British businessma­n and a Dutch baroness, Hepburn endured the horrors of the Nazi occupation of the Netherland­s – her fabled 20in waist was the result of wartime malnutriti­on. The trauma made her brutal about discarding things that did not matter to her while carefully curating clothes and keepsakes that did.

Here are just some of them, reminders of a brilliant actress and humanitari­an, who died in 1993, aged 63. The price tags show auction catalogue estimates of their value.

 ??  ?? JUST MUM: Audrey with son Sean in the 1960s
JUST MUM: Audrey with son Sean in the 1960s

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