Elizabeth Hurley has revealed the one-word reaction Hugh Grant had when she made her reveal wearing the legendary Versace dress that catapulted her to fame.
The 59-year-old, who was not famous at the time, attended a premiere for Four Weddings and a Funeral in 1994, alongside her then-boyfriend Grant. The dramatic design of the simple black dress, held together by 24 gold safety pins down its side, attracted attention and made Hurley a household name overnight.
The couple dated between 1987 and 2000, including during a 1995 scandal in which Grant was alleged to be soliciting the services of a sex worker. They parted ways amicably in 2000, and have remained good friends ever since.
In a new interview, Hurley shared the Love Actually star’s speechless reaction to the dress when she appeared in it.
“When he saw me in it for the first time he just went ‘Christ!’,” she said on The Coop with Kit podcast.
“We were living in this tiny little apartment with no full-length mirror, no steamer, I didn’t have anything,” she laughed. “So it was just ‘Christ!’ and off we went”.
The dress cost £3,000 at the time, with Hurley unaware that it would cause such an impact. She had been denied styling from more popular designers according to Grant, and carried the dress home in a plastic bag on the tube.
“Poor Elizabeth rang some top designers and they all said: ‘No, who are you?’ or ‘No, we’re not lending you anything’.” Grant revealed in BBC documentary, Hugh Grant: A Life On Screen .
“Then Versace said: ‘Yes, we’ll lend you a dress’, and they just sent one round which is that one with the safety pins. So she shoved it on and I raised my eyebrows a fraction and we set off.”
The black, floor-skimming dress became iconic because of its unusual, and revealing design. Designed by Gianni Versace, the same dress had been modelled by Helena Christiensen on the SS/94 catwalk.
There have been many attempts to emulate the dress or pay homage to it as it continues its allure, with Lady Gaga wearing it in 2012, and Maya Jama paying homage to it at the EMA Awards last month.
