The only time Queen Elizabeth had been to a show was at a

«Lilibet, your mourning skirt is too short». Thus her grandmother, Queen Mary, had admonished her at the time of her father's death. It was from that instant that Queen Elizabeth realized that fashion would always be as important to her as her image. Queen Elizabeth's style was something unique and recognizable, so much so that it impressed even Karl Lagerfeld, who is known to be rather sparing with compliments: «She is never ridiculous, but simply flawless. That's why she is perfect». The Queen's looks have always been something identifiable and absolutely inimitable. Ever since the wedding in 1947: made by Norman Hartnell with more than 10 thousand pearls, the wedding dress was made of ivory silk donated from China and crystals.

To celebrate her 60-year reign, Pantone even dedicated a tribute to her. It was a fun daisy-chain sampler depicting every color of dress she was seen wearing, all with the catalog number of the shade and the date the dress was worn. The queen's colorful dresses became her most recognizable aesthetic signal, one feature among many that made her image iconic in the collective imagination. But beyond her passion for color therapy, it is surprising that the queen took part in only one fashion show during her lifetime. Specifically, she was the guest of honor at the fashion show of British designer Richard Quinn, who was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design by the sovereign in 2018, a recognition for British creatives. Attending a fashion show for the first time, Elizabeth II was the center of public attention, smiling and joking with Anna Wintour and British Fashion Council chief executive Caroline Rush, seated to her right. «Which one of the two is the queen?» socialites asked wryly, looking at images of the unusual couple sitting on the front row. And if the Queen never took off her black gloves, so did Anna Wintour with her sunglasses, worn, as usual, throughout the show. For both of them , no doubt, fashion has always been serious business.