She had an elegance so timeless it still holds sway over us all. As a new exhibition of photographs celebrates the film star's work, Rebecca Lowthorpe asks why we can't get over Audrey."Audrey Hepburn? She was a popsicle in a black shift dress," says a designer who, not surprisingly, wishes to remain nameless. After all, who would dare publicly to criticise one of the 20th century's best-loved fashion and film icons? Mary Quant called her the "most stylish woman who ever lived". Hubert de Givenchy said she was "a gift from on high". Gregory Peck called her unique, Steven Spielberg considered her an angel, and Tom Cruise recently paid his girlfriend, Penelope Cruz, the highest compliment when he compared her elegance to that of the legendary Hepburn. There is no denying that Audrey Hepburn was, possibly more than any female star before or after her, the quintessential style icon. Despite the fact that she died in 1993, aged 64, and made her last film in 1967 - well before her dazzling gamine looks faded - we never seem to tire of looking at her. This is, of course, the measure of any great star.
Last year, Breakfast At Tiffany's - the film that sealed her reputation as a fashion goddess - was re-released in the UK 40 years after the film was first made to mark its ruby anniversary. This year, the Proud Gallery in London is about to unveil its extensive exhibition of Hepburn photographs by Bob Willoughby, comprising 180 images that span her film career and as yet
unseen snaps of their first shoot together, taken in 1953 when she was still unknown.
Cue the inevitable proclamations that "The Little Black Dress is back", accompanied by the authoritative image of Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany's, with her beehive hairdo and white gloves, looking as chic as chic can be, loitering outside the eponymous posh jewellery store in her classic Givenchy LBD. An image that is no more attainable for most than that of a bikini-clad Gisele Bundchen posing on Ipanema beach. But such is the perennial power of Hepburn, there is even a crash plan diet based on her iconic Tiffany's image, The Little Black Dress Diet by Michael van Straten, that claims it can help you to "lose 10lb in 10 days". It is perhaps worth mentioning here that Hepburn's naturally skeletal frame was said to be the result of childhood malnutrition.Another LBD spin-off is the Little Black Dress perfume, by erm, Avon, hardly the most sophisticated of fragrance-makers. Upmarket or not, is it possible to create a scent that whiffs of understated glamour? Thanks to our sprightly heroine, the humble black polo-neck is imbued with all sorts of sophisticated connotations since she made it a part of her signature look on and off the screen. Perceiving the jumper as a classic symbol of high-pedigree taste, Marks & Spencer was recently only too happy to market it as the company's saviour. It does not seem to matter what decade we are in or what trends are being touted as the next big thing, Audrey Hepburn style can be recycled to fit the bill, be it the slick, cold, shiny mid-Eighties or the non-ironed, raw-edged Noughties. You just wait. This spring/ summer, white will be declared the new black. What better image to sell the trend than Hepburn striding out in her first scene of How to Steal a Million wearing head-to-toe white - suit, sunglasses and shoes - all in striking contrast to her red sports car. There will follow the usual advice on how to make this summer's white shirts look "Audrey-elegant" as they did on Hepburn in her first film, Roman Holiday, knotted just so at the waist. And, now that sky-high heels are off the agenda, pumps a la the film Funny Face - wafer-flat, black and pointy - will no doubt be extolled as the next shoe fad. It's easy to see why, at the height of her fame, Audrey Hepburn was such a favourite with the public and style gurus alike. Unlike her peers Marilyn Monroe (too ditsy), Kim Novak (too icy) and Grace Kelly (too aloof), Hepburn was universally accessible. But her greatest weapon of all, and the reason behind her eternal fashion appeal was Hubert de Givenchy, the couturier with whom she collaborated on the costumes for almost all of her films.When they met in 1954 Hepburn was a nobody, yet to be seen in Roman Holiday. Of their first encounter Givenchy later noted: "My first impression was of some extremely delicate animal. She had such beautiful eyes, and she was so extremely slender, so thin." In fact, the couturier never had to modify the fittings mannequin he had first made for her in 1954, since her minuscule frame remained the same throughout her life. Givenchy was commissioned to design the costumes for Sabrina (for which he won an Oscar the following year), the T- shirts and boat-neck dresses of which became known as the "decollete Sabrina". At the time, Sabrina's director, Billy Wilder was moved to comment that: "This girl, single-handed, may make bosoms a thing of the past." Almost unthinkable in an era rife with busty Monroes and Mansfields.As for Givenchy, he had found the perfect interpreter of his style. "In film after film, Audrey wore clothe
s with such talent and flair that she created a style, which in turn had a major impact on fashion. Her chic, her youth, her bearing and her silhouette grew ever more celebrated, enveloping me in a kind of aura or radiance that I could never have hoped for." Hepburn meanwhile found in him a true friend. "There are few people I love more. He is the single person I know with the greatest integrity," she once said.Together, Givenchy and Hepburn created a fashion/ film union that has yet to be matched. Modern link-ups with designers such as Versace, Armani and Ralph Lauren have all the integrity of a Hollywood blockbuster. Starlets such as Liz Hurley and Catherine Zeta- Jones have played their fashion cards wrong and cannot be considered long-term style icons, both being quite the opposite of effortless; they blatantly expose their bodies along with their lust for publicity. Penelope Cruz may be the face and body of Ralph Lauren, but the combination hardly produces a cult look that seems destined to run and run. Chloe Sevigny had a stab at becoming a fashion icon, but she chose a quirky vintage look that was fashionable for all of five minutes. Then there is Nicole Kidman - an actress/mannequin par excellence - but she is too quixotic in her clothing tastes, jumping from one designer to the next, and providing no solid image for us to aspire to.This is where Hepburn and Jackie Onassis (the only other woman in the history of style to make a boring black shift dress look desirable) succeed. They wore one style for the whole of their lives. They never made the mistake of following cyclical trends, but remained loyal to the clothes that suited them best. That is why they became bigger than fashion. Like it or not, we are stuck with Hepburn's implacable style - items of such simplicity that they still seem modern today. Long may the LBD reign.The Independent - London01/13/2002Webmaster comments: There's a mistake from the author here. Audrey Hepburn died at 63 and her last film appearance was in the Steven Spielberg romantic fantasy "Always" (1989)."Despite the fact that she died in 1993, aged 64, and made her last film in 1967 - well before her dazzling gamine looks faded - we never seem to tire of looking at her. This is, of course, the measure of any great star."by Rebecca Lowthorpe
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