Alessandra Rich is sixteen years old, which makes it young for a house with a royal wardrobe behind it, and its history is unusually well dated because so much of it happened in public: a Golden Globe in 2012, a music video in 2016, a royal portrait in 2018 and a Westminster Abbey service in 2025. This timeline sets each event against a named, dated source. Where the record is thin, for instance the exact date of the first Harrods order, it says so rather than filling the gap.
Key facts
- Founded: 2010, London and Milan, by Alessandra Rich. Independent, run with her husband.
- Made: entirely in Italy, from silk crepe de chine, wool tweed boucle and Chantilly lace. Shown in Paris.
- First stockists: Harrods (first two collections), then Net-a-Porter after Natalie Massenet saw the collection at the Ritz Paris.
- The royal record: the Princess of Wales in the navy polka dot (2018, 2019), the custom azure polka dot (2022) and the black and white polka dot (2023, 2025).
- At Luxury Shoes : 306 pieces on 18 September 2026, from $488 to $8,780, the Fall Winter 2026 collection and shoes included.
Timeline
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Alessandra Rich founds her namesake label, with offices in London and Milan. Italian-born and London-based, in her forties and with no formal fashion training, she has previously worked in her husband’s art business and in property and interiors. The first collection is ten pieces and takes eight months to make. | Alessandra Rich, South China Morning Post |
| 2010 to 2011 | Harrods stocks the first two collections. Rich shows in Paris in a showroom at the Ritz on Place Vendôme with a group of young designers; Natalie Massenet, founder of Net-a-Porter, sees the rail in the hotel lobby and buys the whole collection. | South China Morning Post |
| January 2012 | Meryl Streep wears a floor-length black Alessandra Rich lace gown to the Golden Globes and wins Best Actress for The Iron Lady. Rich has described fitting her in a London hotel suite. | South China Morning Post |
| 2016 | Beyoncé wears a white tiered lace dress from the Spring Summer 2016 collection in the Formation video. Rihanna, Olivia Wilde and Adriana Lima are clients. The house is sold in more than forty stores worldwide and Rich’s husband has joined to run the business. The Fall Winter 2016 collection, (Bye Bye) Kitty, is built around an imagined heroine. | South China Morning Post |
| April and May 2018 | Sarah Jessica Parker wears the navy polka-dot midi with a white collar in New York in April; Abigail Spencer wears it to the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on 19 May. | Grazia |
| November 2018 | The Duchess of Cambridge, now the Princess of Wales, wears the navy polka-dot dress in the official photograph released for the Prince of Wales’s seventieth birthday. | Grazia |
| May 2019 | Grazia traces the dress through its wearers; HELLO! reports Rich naming Princess Diana as a muse: “She wore polka dots so well and I know all of her looks by heart.” | Grazia, HELLO! |
| June 2019 | The Princess wears the navy polka-dot dress again for the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day. | Grazia |
| June 2022 | A custom azure polka-dot dress, with the crystal shoulder and buckle replaced by plain fabric, at the Platinum Jubilee Big Lunch; she repeats it at Wimbledon on 5 July. | Kate Middleton Style |
| June 2023 | A black and white polka-dot midi with a high neck and cinched cuffs at the Order of the Garter service, Windsor. | WWD |
| Pre-Fall 2023 onward | Vogue Runway carries the house’s collections from Pre-Fall 2023 through Fall 2026: Pre-Fall, Resort, Spring and Fall each year, shown in Paris. | Vogue Runway |
| 8 May 2025 | The same black and white polka-dot dress at the VE Day 80 service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey, with Princess Diana’s Collingwood pearl earrings. | WWD |
| Fall Winter 2026 | Polka-dot silks in black and white, cream and bordeaux and light blue, tweed boucle in ivory and black, tartan silk, merino lace knits, lace and sequin-embroidered evening dresses, and four shoe styles on a 10.5 cm stiletto. The collection arrives at Luxury Handbags in September 2026, the shoes for the first time. | alessandrarich.com |
Before the label
Alessandra Rich grew up in Italy and did not train in fashion. She worked with her husband, a third-generation art dealer, then in property and interior decoration, and made her own clothes on the side; she designed her own wedding dress. She has said she enjoyed the work without feeling it was hers, and that the label was the first thing she did for herself. She started it in her forties and has called the late start a blessing.
The first years
The first collection was ten pieces and took eight months. Rich sourced fabrics and factories, produced the lookbook and rang the stockists, most of whom declined. Harrods took the first two collections. In Paris she joined a group of young designers showing in a suite at the Ritz on Place Vendôme, where Natalie Massenet saw the rail while waiting in the lobby and bought the collection for Net-a-Porter. Rich has described that as the exposure that let the house grow. Meryl Streep’s black lace at the Golden Globes in January 2012 was the first red-carpet moment, and the one Rich still tells with shaking hands.
The heroine collections
From the middle of the decade each collection was built around an imagined woman, named and dressed as a character: Dolores, Molly, Kitty. Rich styled a fitting model in hosiery and vintage necklaces until the character arrived, and described her heroines as not so perfect that they are boring. The Fall Winter 2016 collection, (Bye Bye) Kitty, sent a girl growing into a woman to the Far East in a tangerine slit dress with a mandarin collar and a tweed jacket over a lingerie mini. Beyoncé’s white lace in Formation dates from the same year.
The polka dot goes royal
The navy polka-dot silk midi with a white collar was already a celebrity dress in April and May 2018, on Sarah Jessica Parker in New York and Abigail Spencer at the Sussex wedding, before the Princess of Wales wore it in the seventieth-birthday portrait of the future King in November 2018. She repeated it for D-Day 75 in June 2019, wore a custom azure version for the Platinum Jubilee Big Lunch in June 2022 and again at Wimbledon in July, and a black and white polka dot at Garter Day in June 2023 and the VE Day 80 service on 8 May 2025. In 2019 Rich named Princess Diana as her muse for the print. The Princess of Wales record carries each appearance with its source.
Paris, and the present
The house shows in Paris during ready-to-wear week and Vogue Runway lists its collections from Pre-Fall 2023 to Fall 2026. The Fall Winter 2026 collection is the one on sale at Luxury Handbags now: polka dots, tweed, tartan, lace knits, lace and sequin-embroidered evening dresses and, for the first time at Luxury Shoes , the house’s shoes. The Fall Winter 2026 edit picks twelve pieces from it; Who is Alessandra Rich is the profile.
Frequently asked questions
When was Alessandra Rich founded?
2010, by Alessandra Rich, with offices in London and Milan. The first collection was ten pieces and sold at Harrods.
Who founded Alessandra Rich?
Alessandra Rich, an Italian-born, London-based designer who started the label in her forties with no formal fashion training. Her husband, a third-generation art dealer, runs the business.
When did Kate Middleton first wear Alessandra Rich?
November 2018, in the official photograph for the then Prince of Wales’s seventieth birthday, in the navy polka-dot midi with a white collar.
Which celebrities have worn Alessandra Rich?
Meryl Streep (2012 Golden Globes), Beyonce (Formation, 2016), Rihanna, Olivia Wilde, Adriana Lima, Sarah Jessica Parker and Abigail Spencer (2018), and the Princess of Wales repeatedly since 2018.
Where does Alessandra Rich show?
Paris, during ready-to-wear week. Vogue Runway lists the collections from Pre-Fall 2023 to Fall 2026.
Does Alessandra Rich have a Wikipedia page?
Not one dedicated to the house at the time of writing. The facts on this page come from the house’s own site and the dated press record listed below.
When did Alessandra Rich shoes arrive at Luxury Shoes ?
September 2026, with the Fall Winter 2026 collection: pointed slingback pumps in black and white and satin and leather mules, all on a 10.5 cm stiletto.
Read next
who is Alessandra Rich | the Princess of Wales record | the glossary | is it a luxury brand
All the Alessandra Rich guides at Luxury Shoes
Who is Alessandra Rich | How to style the polka-dot dress | Brands like Alessandra Rich | Fall Winter 2026 edit | Polka-dot dresses | The Princess of Wales dresses | Is Alessandra Rich a luxury brand | Price guide | Size guide | Sale guide | Where to buy | Real vs fake | Shoes | Alessandra Rich vs Zimmermann | Alessandra Rich vs Rasario | Wedding guest dresses | Dresses | Midi dresses | Mini dresses | Evening gowns | Skirts | Tops and blouses | Jackets and coats | Knitwear | Black dresses | White and ivory | Blue dresses | Tweed and boucle | Lace dresses | Sequins and crystal | Bows and collars | Floral and printed silk | Glossary | Materials and care. Shop the full Alessandra Rich collection at Luxury Shoes .
Sources and method
Checked on 18 September 2026. Facts about the house come from the sources below; prices, counts and stock come from the live Luxury Handbags catalogue on that date and change with the season.
- Alessandra Rich, About the brand
- South China Morning Post, 7 April 2016, interview with Alessandra Rich
- Grazia, 16 May 2019, the navy polka-dot dress
- HELLO!, 30 May 2019, Alessandra Rich on Princess Diana as a muse
- Kate Middleton Style, 5 July 2022, the azure polka-dot dress
- WWD, 8 May 2025, VE Day 80 service of thanksgiving
- Vogue Runway, Alessandra Rich designer page
- alessandrarich.com, Fall Winter 2026 collection pages (product details, size guide, model measurements)
- Luxury Handbags product data for the 306 Alessandra Rich pieces on sale on 18 September 2026 (prices in USD, compositions, sizes, seasons)
Gemma Deeks is Fashion Editor at Luxury Shoes . Prices, stock and counts on this page were checked against coveti.com and alessandrarich.com on 18 September 2026.
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