Queen Elizabeth’s Go-To Designer Shares the Touching Gesture and “Subtle Kindnesses” She Showed Towards Him
Stewart Parvin opened up about working on the late Queen's remarkable wardrobe.
When designer Stewart Parvin first began working on designs for a woman introduced simply as a "VIP client" of dresser Angela Kelly, he had no idea the lady in question was Queen Elizabeth herself. In a new interview with Tatler, the couturier—who went on to earn a royal warrant and become the late Queen's royal dressmaker—shared the story of how his relationship with Queen Elizabeth began in secrecy and blossomed into a decades-long collaboration. He also revealed a meaningful gesture the late Queen made while presenting him with an enormous honor.
Parvin told the outlet that he thought Queen Elizabeth's right-hand woman Angela Kelly "was just a personal shopper" when she first came in to meet with him. "She came in and asked if I’d mind if she turned the clothes inside out to see how they’re made," he said, with Kelly explaining, "I buy clothes for a VIP client. They have to be beautifully made as well as look nice."
After placing an order for some designs, she told Parvin, "I better tell you who it is now, hadn’t I? It’s Her Majesty, The Queen." The designer went on to create countless pieces for the late Queen, but Parvin also noted her sensible side, sharing, "she re-wore things often."
Queen Elizabeth is seen in a Stewart Parvin design during the Royal Maundy service in 2019.
The late Queen chose a Stewart Parvin coat during her final Platinum Jubilee appearance.
In 2016, Queen Elizabeth honored Parvin by investing him in the Royal Victorian Order (RVO), a knighthood that recognizes personal service to the monarch. During the ceremony, she wore an outfit designed by Parvin, and he told Tatler that the gesture deeply touched him.
The designer said the late Queen would carry out "many subtle kindnesses," adding, "In someone’s life who has so much to think about, for her to think to do that was so lovely."
It seems Parvin was also on her mind during one of her final public appearances. The designer recalled that Angela Kelly called him and said "You will be watching the television, won't you?" ahead of Queen Elizabeth's balcony appearance to mark the end of her Platinum Jubilee. So although he had an inkling, Parvin wasn't aware she was going to wear his bright green coat on that June afternoon—an outfit that would become one of her iconic looks, as Queen Elizabeth died just three months later.
Along with Queen Elizabeth, the designer has also worked with Zara Tindall, having created the dress for her 2011 nuptials to Mike Tindall. Hilariously, Parvin wasn't able to reveal who the dress was for, despite making "everybody" work on it. "It didn’t matter if you were a pattern cutter or a seamstress. [Some of them] were getting annoyed," he recalled. "I couldn’t tell them who it was. You’re sworn to secrecy."
