Murray Arbeid

Murray Arbeid (30 May 1935 – 22 August 2011) was a British fashion designer, known for his eveningwear. His notable clients included Princess Diana and Shirley Bassey. He once joked that if there were a Nobel Prize for creations in taffeta, he would have won it.

Early life Arbeid was born in London, the son of East Enders Jack and Ida Arbeid. Jack Arbeid was a diamond cutter who had inherited a jewellery business and most of the family's friends were in the 'rag trade' – wholesaling and retailing clothes. During the war, like many children in vulnerable areas, Murray Arbeid was evacuated to Cornwall to escape the Blitz. Returning to London with a Cornish accent, he attended Cosway Street School in Marylebone before studying at Regent Street Polytechnic (now University of Westminster), and then moving on to the London Institute of Fashion to learn pattern cutting.

Career beginnings His first job was with a garment house in Wigmore Street, close to Oxford Street, where he earned 28 shillings and sixpence a week. Joining the firm a year before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth meant Arbeid was thrown into a busy environment as Britain's high society ladies refurbished their wardrobes.

At Michael Sherard, Arbeid was taught by Mme Raymond, who had once been an apprentice of Madeleine Vionnet, and later the skilled dressmaker Alice Edwards – both of whom had impeccable Paris contacts as well as expertise. These dresses – described by fellow royal gown designer Bruce Oldfield as "gorgeous loss leaders" – boosted Arbeid's reputation and won him many other clients, particularly in the US. Other famous wearers of Arbeid gowns included Queen Noor of Jordan, Shirley Bassey and Estée Lauder. Arbeid was diagnosed with cancer in 2000 and given six months to live, proving the prognosis wrong by over a decade.