Catherine Walker, Creator of Dresses for Princess Diana, Dies

The British fashion world lost yet another luminary when Catherine Walker, the French-born, London-based designer best known for creating some of Princess Diana's most famous outfits, passed away on Thursday after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 65.

Catherine Marguerite Marie-Therese Baheux was born in the Pas-de-Calais region of France on June 27, 1945. Not formally trained as a designer, she instead studied philosophy at the universities of Lille and Aix-en-Province, before moving to London, where she married lawyer John Walker. When her husband died in an accident in 1975, Catherine took a new direction in life; left to raise their two daughters alone, she enrolled in a fashion course and began selling her designs the following year.

She opened her atelier in London's Chelsea neighborhood, specializing in bespoke craftsmanship and draped, embellished designs. She worked as both a tailer and dressmaker, and built up professional relationships with an impressive roster of royals--she created Lady Helen Taylor's wedding gown, and began designing dresses for Princess Diana shortly after her marriage to Prince Charles. Indeed, the Princess was buried in a black gown by Catherine Walker.

A serious, reserved woman, she wasn't fond of the media attention being Diana's designer brought her, eschewing fashion traditions: “She never worked within the conventional mold; She had no formal training, shunned the limelight throughout her career, and never showed her collections on the runway,” her family said in a statement.

In recent years, as her health declined, she trained a new design team to continue her business as Catherine Walker & Co. A family funeral service will be held this week, and a memorial service will be held next month, the family said.

Photos: WWD, Christie's