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For Immediate release!
Princess Diana's Iconic Custom-Made Gowns and Audrey Hepburn's Breakfast at Tiffany's Givenchy Evening Dress Bring Over Two Million Collectively
Three-Day Hollywood Auction Blockbuster Realizes Record-Breaking Number of Registered Bidders & Participants and Record Sales
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall's Wedding Rings Sold for $190,500 and Bacall's Bogart Gifted Whistle Bracelet Sold for $158,750
William Shatner's Captain James T. Kirk's Starfleet Command jacket from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan Sold for $127,000
Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia Organa Slave Production Made Costume Components from Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi Sold to her Brother, Todd Fisher, for $38,100
Beverly Hills, California - (September 8, 2023) Julien's Auctions and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) - the ultimate destination for Hollywood memorabilia auctions - held "LEGENDS: HOLLYWOOD & ROYALTY," on Wednesday, September 6th, Thursday, September 7th, and Friday, September 8th, their three-day star-studded event featuring over 1,400 artifacts from the greatest films of the Classic Era to Contemporary films spanning Sci-Fi, Action and Fantasy classics and beyond as well as a historic collection of Royal one-of-a-kind treasures including gowns personally owned and worn by Princess Diana. The sale was held in front of a live audience at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills and online with a record-breaking number of bidders and collectors from around the world participating on Julien's Live.
Earlier this year, Julien's Auctions launched a new multimedia campaign which resulted in a record-breaking number of registered bidders and participants in this auction. This new multimedia campaign includes marketing efforts such as compelling promotional videos, newsletters, and a social media presence that give the auction house a premium feel. Via Julien's partnership with Turner Classic Movies, who showcased the event with exclusive content promoting the auction across their channel and platforms, legions of film and television fans were brought in to this historic auction to celebrate popular culture icons.
One of the most highly anticipated moments of the auction was the sale of Princess Diana's personally-owned wardrobe including custom-made gowns from world-renowned designers Bruce Oldfield and Catherine Walker.
A red Bruce Oldfield silk gown worn by Princess Diana to the world premiere of Hot Shots on November 18, 1991 sold for $571,500 well over its original estimate of $200,000.
A Catherine Walker black and jade gown worn to a gala event in Toronto, Canada on October 26, 1991 was another top seller which sold for $571,500.
A custom-made black velvet and ivory gown, also designed by Catherine Walker, that was worn by Princess Diana to a private event sold for $508,000, eight times its original estimate of $60,000. Catherine Walker created some of Diana's most iconic looks such as "The Elvis Dress." Walker designed gowns as well as an entire wardrobe for royal tours. The designs Walker created showcased clean lines but offered design details that could be picked up on camera and stand out. Walker was one of Princess Diana's favorite designers and created custom designs for her for over 16 years.
Some of the most glamorous costumes from The Golden Age of Hollywood were sold such as the beautiful Givenchy Couture pink evening dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in her iconic role of "Holly Golightly" in the classic film Breakfast at Tiffany's which was the top selling item of this category and sold for $444,500, more than double its original estimate. Hepburn is seen in the dress towards the end of the film when the characters Holly and José (played by José Luis de Vilallonga) return from a night out. Hepburn's wide brim straw hat worn in her role as "Jo Stockton" in Funny Face also made an appearance ($22,750).
Other exceptional style pieces in this category included:
An exclusive collection featuring Hollywood Royal couple Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall's most cherished pieces were offered for the first time at auction, including:
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall's son Stephen Bogart commented, "My sister Leslie and I would like to thank Julien's Auctions, Turner Classic Movies and Brooks Branch for their tremendous job bringing these important and dear artifacts to auction. Everyone was so lovely to work with and TCM helped to put a wonderful spotlight on my parents' legacy. Kudos to all."
Another top selling highlight of the event was the sale of William Shatner's iconic Captain James T. Kirk's Starfleet Command jacket from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan ($127,000). Shatner can be seen wearing this wool knit maroon jacket at many points in the film, including during the opening sequence. Other out of this world Star Trek lots included a 24K gold-plated U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 model as seen used in Star Trek: The First Contact ($22,750) and the "U.S.S. Yeager" starship model as seen used in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ($13,000).
From a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars highlights included the sale of Ewan McGregor as "Obi-Wan Kenobi's" dueling lightsaber from Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith ($91,000). This type lightsaber prop would have been utilized for Obi-Wan's famous duel against his apprentice Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), and during a duel with General Grievous (Matthew Wood). An iconic DL-44 blaster as seen used by Harrison Ford as "Han Solo" in Star Wars - The Force Awakens also brought an impressive $39,000.
Other outstanding pieces sold were original production costume components like those seen as part of the full iconic slave costume worn by Carrie Fisher as "Princess Leia Organa" in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi which was won by Carrie Fisher's brother, Todd Fisher ($38,100).
"We are very happy to add this piece to the estates' collection of Debbie and Carrie artifacts," said Todd Fisher. "We have been working with Darren Julien of Julien's Auctions for many decades. He has helped us acquire some very important pieces, including my mother's birthday cake outfit from Singin' in the Rain."
From the wizarding world of Harry Potter came a number of production-used wands that broke Julien's previous record sales of Harry Potter franchise wands sold in a single auction. Highlights include:
Iconic pop culture artifacts made their way to the auction podium, some being offered for the first time since their respected productions. Some notable highlights include:
Property from the life and career of Hollywood legend Dennis Hopper featured items such as art associated with Hopper's friendship and artistic exchanges with American pop artist Ed Ruscha including a limited-edition copy of Ruscha's Some Los Angeles Apartments inscribed by the photographer and with a handwritten note by Hopper ($19,050); a limited edition Ed Ruscha Various Small Fires artist book inscribed to Dennis Hopper in pencil by Ruscha ($15,875) and a Polaroid photograph of Hopper wearing a white shirt, brown vest, and a cowboy hat taken by and signed by Andy Warhol ($26,000).
"Our latest Hollywood auction, with our esteemed marketing partner TCM, featured a number of record sales of items such as pieces owned by Princess Diana, Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and a marquee lineup of the most recognizable pop culture artifacts from the worlds of Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter and more," said Martin Nolan, Executive Director and Founder of Julien's Auctions. "Buoyed by the tremendous success of this three-day sale - which brought in a record number of registrants and bidders from across the globe - we are already busy at work in the launch of our next Hollywood auction that will be a year-end spectacular as we celebrate Julien's 20th anniversary."
Other highlights included:
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LIVE AUCTIONS
Registration is required to bid in this live auction and can be done online before the sale at the JuliensAuctions.com Registration page to bid by phone, proxy or online at JuliensLive.com/signup/ to bid live online, or by calling (310) 836-1818.
ONLINE ONLY AUCTIONS
Registration is required to bid in this online exclusive auction and can be done online before the sale at JuliensLive.com/signup/ to bid live online, or by calling (310) 836-1818.
There are four ways to bid in Live Auctions:
info@juliensauctions.com For hi res images at 300 dpi (and above), please email requests to: info@juliensauctions.com.
Collaborating with the famous and the exclusive, Julien’s Auctions produces high profile auctions in the film, music, art and sports markets. Julien’s Auctions has received international recognition for its unique and innovative auction events, which attract thousands of collectors, investors, fans and enthusiasts from around the world. Julien’s Auctions specializes in sales of iconic artifacts and notable collections including Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Lady Gaga, Banksy, Cher, Michael Jackson, U2, Barbra Streisand, Les Paul, Neil Young, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, Hugh Hefner, Pelé and many more. In 2016, Julien’s realized $5 million in the historic auction of the Brazilian soccer icon, three-time World Cup Champion and FIFA Player of the Century’s collection of memorabilia, personal property and awards, which featured the sale of Pelé’s 3 World Cup Gold medals, sold for a combined total of US $970,992 (£674,300), including his 1970 World Cup winner’s medal sold for $427,100 (£346,000), which set world records for the most expensive Pelé item and the most expensive soccer medal ever sold at auction. In 2020, Julien’s shattered multiple records of sports jerseys sold at auction in the sale of a trio of historic #23 basketball jerseys worn by Michael Jordan (his historic 1984 “Signing Day” official Chicago Bulls rookie #23 which sold for $320,000, a new world record sale for a jersey worn by the 14 Time All-Star and five-time MVP legend), Barack Obama (the forty-fourth U.S. President’s 1979 #23 Punahou School jersey which sold for $192,000, a new world record selling price for a high school jersey) and Lebron James (the NBA legend’s 2003-2004 official Cleveland Cavaliers rookie year NBA jersey rookie season which sold for $128,000) which combined totaled $640,000 as well as Colin Kaepernick’s official San Francisco 49ers rookie jersey which sold for $128,000, a new world record for most expensive NFL jersey sold at auction. Other notable Sports memorabilia sold by Julien’s Auctions include Babe Ruth’s 1938 Brooklyn Dodgers coaching uniform which sold for $187,500 and NASCAR legend Richard Petty’s 1974 Dodge Charger Daytona race-winning car which sold for $500,000. In 2016, Julien’s Auctions received its second placement in the Guinness Book of World Records for the sale of the world’s most expensive dress ever sold at auction, The Marilyn Monroe “Happy Birthday Mr. President” dress which sold for $4.8 million. Julien’s Auctions achieved placement in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2009 for the sale of Michael Jackson’s white glove, which sold for $480,000 making it the most expensive glove ever sold at auction. In 2020, Julien’s Auctions received its third Guinness Book of World Record placement for the sale of Kurt Cobain’s “MTV Unplugged” 1959 Martin D-18E acoustic-electric guitar, which sold for $6 million making it the world’s most expensive guitar ever sold at auction. In 2022, Julien’s Auctions sold the world’s second most expensive guitar ever sold at auction with Kurt Cobain’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video 1969 Fender Mustang electric guitar, which sold for $4.5 million. Based in Los Angeles, Julien’s Auctions has a global presence bringing their auctions and exhibitions to targeted destinations worldwide including London, New York, Las Vegas, Japan and China. Live auctions are presented for bidders on-site and online via live streaming video and mobile technology. For more information on Julien’s Auctions, go to www.juliensauctions.com.
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