Jacques the man behind Di's look

It seemed that, once she stepped out of the cocoon of her marriage, she was able, and mature enough, to become a woman of fashion substance.

Out went the attention-grabbing frills and the girly flounces and in came a simpler, sexier and altogether more confident way of dressing.

Jacques Azagury was one of the London designers credited with helping to turn Diana into a style superstar.

His glamorous dresses gave the princess a womanly new image and allowed her to let her true glamour and sexual allure shine through.

Look back at photographs taken of the Princess in the last few years of her life, and it's a safe bet that, in the shots which take your breath away, she is dressed in an Azagury creation.

Remember that stunning, pale blue beaded shift dress, cut low on the cleavage and several leggy inches above the knee? It was the dress that seemed to mark a distinct change in direction for the independent single woman she had become.

It was Jacques' handiwork. The Princess wore it to a Royal Gala performance of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall - and captured virtually every newspaper's front page the next day.

"That was probably the most well-known of the dresses I made for her," remembers the Moroccan-born designer renowned as one of the best of British. "It really was a very glamorous look for her. At that time, she was just coming into her own - and looking fabulous. She wore it to the ballet and she had a beautiful tan that day. The blue of the dress perfectly matched her eyes."

The dress had not been specially designed for her, though. "It was just a piece from my collection," he says. "She never asked me to design anything especially for her. She always said that when she came in to our salon there was always exactly what she wanted hanging on the rails."

Later she was stepping out in an equally low-cleavaged evening gown - this time in glittering black. The chantilly lace number, worn for her 36th birthday visit to an event at the Tate Gallery, was a particular favourite of its creator.

It was to be one of Diana's last public engagements – she wore the dress only four weeks before she died.

"She was a beautiful woman and it was an honour to dress her," says Azagury, the designer Diana was introduced to back in 1984 by Anna Harvey, the then deputy editor at British Vogue.

"The very first dress of mine that she wore was a black velvet gown with a dropped waist and embellished with stars. It was very 80s and she wore it in Venice," he remembers.

What was it about Azagury's dresses that caught her eye?

"Diana very quickly moved away from the frills and flounces that she had first become famous for and adopted a simpler style, which was also very body-conscious. My dresses offered that combination. They are quite sexy; they fit the body and the fabrics are always very luxurious and feminine. Since I first decided to become a fashion designer my objective has always been to create clothes that women think are beautiful.”

The fringe benefit of that decision? Beautiful clothes, beams Jacques, have a knack of attracting beautiful women. Some of the world’s most stunning actresses, models and socialites have beaten a path to his Knightsbridge door.

One of his more recent clients is Dame Helen Mirren, the actress much admired for both her acting talents and her ageless elegance and sex appeal.

When Mirren stepped up to receive her BAFTA award this year, her beautiful, trailing cream gown, teamed with a glamorous ruffle of taupe bolero about her shoulders, drew appreciative comments around the globe.

It was another off-the-peg Azagury - as was the sheer, silver chiffon gown she later wore to collect her accolade at the Pride of Britain Awards.

Azagury was something of an overnight success. A graduate of the UK’s foremost fashion training grounds the London College of Fashion and St Martin’s School of Art, he was picked out for fame when he presented his final university fashion collection nigh on 30 years ago.

Department store Browns snapped up the collection and he was hailed as the next big name by the likes of Vogue and Harpers & Queen. He joined the London Designers Collection and his edgy, but luxurious, take on the New Romantics trend via his 1980 collection was sold at the world’s top stores.

Seven years later, Jacques opened his Knightsbridge store, selling exquisite eveningwear to an international clientele. In `1993, his brother Joseph Azagury opened his designer shoe shop close by.

“These days some designers are only around for three or four seasons. Then they disappear. I think a lot of that is down to the fact that they are hyped up to a certain level too quickly. We are living in a celebrity culture and people want things to happen really fast. They get carried away and don’t concentrate on the running of the business.

So what does the famed designer beloved by the rich and famous choose to wear himself?

“I love Prada, Gucci and a bit of D&G. But most of the time I’m in jeans and a T-shirt because that is what I feel most comfortable in,” he says.

His current projects reflect Azagury’s ability to keep one foot in the world of glamour and glitz, and the other firmly down to earth.

He launches his first ever perfume this month – Azagury. The scent has been developed in France and, says Jacques: “I wanted it to be feminine but modern. It is a blend of white flowers and cedars but with a touch of modern perfume technology.”

His autumn-winter ’07 fashion collection boasts a truly elegant approach. “I have moved away from soft chiffons – the collection has a much more structured approach, “ he says. "It's very Forties – it's glamorous and figure-hugging with a touch of bright red among black, silvers and aubergine."

But he has also been busily working on a project which brings his luxurious garments within the reach of all women… he has created a lingerie set for the makers of a washing powder!

"I got involved because Bold wanted to give something luxurious to busy mums - some "me time" at the end of a hard day. I thought that was a lovely idea."

Jacques' clients include Davina McCall, who has three children under six, and the matriarchal Sharon Osbourne.

"But whether someone is rich and famous or not makes no difference," he explains.

"At the end of the day, they all have hectic lives and put their children first. That bit of time when the children are in bed and they can relax and be entirely themselves again is important to all women."

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