Elizabeth Emanuel

Career Emanuel Salon

Following the birth of their two children, Oliver and Eloise; in 1977 the couple launched their own fashion house, Emanuel Salon, in Brook Street, Mayfair. In 1979, they decided to close their ready–to–wear shop, so that they could concentrate on the couture (custom made) side of the business, and became a favourite designer of Lady Diana Spencer before her marriage. Of the dress, Lisa Marsh writes in the Fashion Encyclopedia that "Creations by artists from Botticelli to Renoir and Degas were used as influences, as were photographs of some of the more romantic women in history. The garments seen on Greta Garbo in Camille, Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind, and Marlene Dietrich in The Scarlet Empress were all recreated to some degree."

After the 1981 Royal Wedding the Emanuels designed a major part of the Princess of Wales' wardrobe for her Gulf Tour, and appeared with her in an Independent Television documentary entitled In Private - in Public. At this time both the Duchess of Kent and the Duchess of York also became patrons of the Salon.

In 1987 the Emanuel Shop was opened in Beauchamp Place, Knightsbridge, bringing the Emanuels' previously exclusive clothing to the general public. The collections also sold at: Browns, Harrods and Harvey Nichols in London; Bergdorf Goodman, Saks, Henri Bendel, Barneys and Neiman Marcus in the United States.

In 1998, businessman Richard Thompson backed the Elizabeth Emanuel brand.

Elizabeth Emanuel After Emanuel and she separated in 1990, and later divorced, After the pair fell out and Emanuel went to court to reclaim her brand, as a result of huge public interest, the BBC filmed two 45-minute documentaries of her work over the course of two years, Frocky Horror Show and Blood on the Carpet. Emanuel lost the case in a landmark hearing.

Contractually tied to either producing public work for a label that she did not own or singular commissions, Emanuel chose to concentrate on the latter. In October 1997 she was commissioned to produce the wedding dress for Estee Lauder's forthcoming international television campaign for the perfume Beautiful, featuring Elizabeth Hurley. In July 1998 she was again commissioned by Estee Lauder for their Pleasures campaign, again featuring Elizabeth Hurley.

From 2001-2002 she worked as the designer for The Luxury Brand Group concentrating on the development of their newly acquired Norman Hartnell brand. In November 2003, Emanuel designed the costumes for a short film starring David Ginola, filmed in France and premièred at the Cannes Film Festival. In May 2004, she designed violinist Vanessa Mae's outfit and her dancers' costumes for the Classic Brit Awards at the Royal Albert Hall. Emanuel created costumes with Mike Batt for his musical The Hunting of the Snark first performed at The Albert Hall.

She designed for the Ballet Rambert and for Robert North's Fabrications by the London Contemporary Dance Theatre. She also designed the costumes for Wayne Eagling's production Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus.

Art of Being In August 2005, she opened her new studio in Little Venice, and attended the launch of her new label Art of Being.

In February 2007, Emanuel completed a multi-feature DVD called Metamorphosis, one of the wedding dresses from which features in the film Outlaw, directed by Nick Love. In the credits, Emanuel's name and the Art of Being brand are both mentioned. In February 2008, Emanuel designed a range of wedding gowns for high street department store chain British Home Stores, and also started creating pieces for both ITV's the X Factor and Britain's Next Top Model. Davenport was subsequently jailed in September 2011 for his part in a £4.5 million advanced-fee fraud.

In September 2010, Emanuel returned to the catwalk during London Fashion Week showing her Little Black Dress Collection.