30 years have passed since the farewell Audrey Hepburn, the interpreter of cult films such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Roman Holiday, icon of absolute charm, muse of directors and couturiers such as Monsieur Huberth de Givenchy. But her legend remains intact, in memory of a diva of unparalleled charisma, but also of a dedicated woman who, as a UNICEF ambassador against world hunger, witnessed the aftermath of wartime malnutrition. Audrey Hepburn died on January 20, 1993 at her villa in Tolochenaz, Switzerland.
Even today she is the most quoted diva of the fashion world, the most cloned, the most imitated, like a modern day influencer with millions of followers. Many documentaries and books about his life. Her long black dress, which she wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, is the most cited dress in the fashion industry. The adorable short bangs in the film My Fair Lady are still a look copied by girls of all walks of life today. Her favorite shoes, the flats first worn in Stanley Donen’s musical film (1957) Cinderella in Paris, are evergreen female shoe models. The clothes created for her by Givenchy are still considered “classics” in the wardrobes of chic women. The couturier met Audrey in 1953 and chose her as his muse. Audrey wore her outfits both in life and in the movies. Unforgettable are the garments Givenchy designed for Sabrina (1954), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Roman Holiday by William Wyler (1953), Charade by Stanley Donen and How to steal a million dollars and live haplyly by Wyler (1966).
Hepburn’s real name was Audrey Kathleen Ruston: born in Brussels, Belgium on 4 May 1929 of the second marriage of Baroness Ella van Heemstra, descendant of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, third husband of Mary Queen of Scots, to the banker Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, divorced, ignoble, brilliant, cultured man. The family had moved to Linkebeek in Belgium since Audrey’s birth. But soon the parents began to quarrel, and Audrey was taken away from home and sent to Holland, where she studied dance and acting. But the hardships of the war made her physically frail. In his career he has won an Oscar, three Golden Globes, an Emmy, a Grammy Award, four BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), two Tonys and three David di Donatello.
For her humanitarian work with the United Nations Fund, she received the 1992 Presidential Medal of Freedom and the 1993 Jean Hersholt Award. In 2006, New Woman magazine voted her the most beautiful woman of all time. And also the most elegant. In fact, her Burberry trench coat, some Givenchy dresses, a gold lighter, many portraits signed by well-known photographers of the time, and most importantly, the original script of Breakfast at Tiffany’s were among Audrey Hepburn’s memorabilia, which took place on September 27, 2017 were auctioned by Christie’s in London and sold at top prices. Items in the auction included a fringed satin cocktail dress made by Givenchy for Audrey and worn by William Klein for a photo shoot to promote the film Two for the Road (1966).
Audrey’s Burberry trench coat and a collection of her beloved ballet flats were also auctioned. The black satin dress Givenchy designed for Breakfast at Tiffany’s was auctioned at Christie’s in 2006 and fetched £456,200, setting a world record for a piece of clothing made for a film. From 1967 he retired from the stage. In private, she is restless. After divorcing Mel Ferrer, she marries an Italian psychiatrist, Andrea Dotti, with whom she has her second son, Luca, and moves to Rome. The marriage ended in 1983. Her new companion, the Dutchman Robert Wolser, will remain closely connected to her to the end.
The last part of the diva’s life will be entirely dedicated to children in the role of Unicef ambassador. His last film was Steven Spielberg’s Always (1989). The director wanted her to be dressed in white, with a chignon, unsurprisingly in the role of an angel. His son Sean Ferrer founded the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund to promote schooling in African countries.
