Norman Hartnell: The Biography

The first full and comprehensive biography of Norman Hartnell, written with access to previously unseen sources: a portrait of the often troubled life of the Queen’s dress designer who came from humble origins and dazzled Royalty, aristocracy and film stars alike.

Norman Hartnell was a figure whose talent and designs were celebrated worldwide, and his status as Britain’s leading twentieth-century designer was augmented by his unique position as Royal Dress Designer to three Queens and the many ladies of the Royal Family.

Hartnell’s decades of design accomplishments were formally recognised by Queen Elizabeth II, who made him KCVO, the first ‘fashion’ Knight, during her Silver Jubilee of 1977. Yet, behind the facade of a glittering existence, Hartnell suffered privately from a mixture of personal misjudgements and poor management crises that plunged his House to the brink of financial ruin.

Michael Pick’s engaging biography charts the vicissitudes of Hartnell’s life, drawing on hitherto unpublished sources. It follows the designer’s humble beginnings as the son of a London publican and his meteoric rise as a British couturier steadily rivalling Paris designers.

Michael Pick, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts is the author of eight books on design and the decorative arts. A founding committee member of the official British preservation group The Twentieth Century Society, he has lectured internationally and contributed to numerous publications, including The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Apollo, The Connoisseur, Tatler, Harpers & Queen and Vogue.

A Mayfair antique and fine art dealer for over forty years as a director of Stair & Company Ltd and then Partridge Fine Art plc, Michael first met and wrote about Hartnell in 1977 for The London Collections magazine run by famed fashion PR Percy Savage and was responsible for the entire renovation of the famous Mayfair Norman Hartnell listed building with its unique art moderne glass salon. He was the instigator of the Blue Plaque now on the building at 26 Bruton Street, W1.

He has lectured extensively about Norman Hartnell world-wide, including at the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Queen Sirikit Textile Museum Bangkok; also aboard the Queen Mary, as well at the Chichester and Oxford Literary Festivals and at the Fashion and Textile Museum London and Tullie House Carlisle , at both of which he has guest-curated exhibitions including items from his extensive collection of several hundred labelled items of C20th London Couture.

He lives in London.