Hepburn Auction Expected to Attract Fashion Designers and Raise Hundreds of Thousands for Charity

AS FAR as rare and covetable pieces of clothing go, those created by designers including Hubert de Givenchy and Valentino - and then worn by style icon Audrey Hepburn - are among the most desirable. Some of the actress' most famous dresses will be auctioned next week in London with 50 per cent of the proceeds going to The Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund and Unicef.

Also included in the sale is a wedding dress she never wore, made for her marriage to James Hanson - which Hepburn called off weeks before it was set to take place.

Hepburn asked that the dress be given away, "to the most beautiful, poor Italian girl you can find - someone who couldn't ever afford a dress like mine" and the recipient - Amabile Altobella - wore it and kept it in her family until it was tracked down by the family of the dress' creators, the Fontanas, in 2002.

Auction experts predict the sale could raise in excess of £100,000, because authenticated Hepburn pieces so rarely come on to the open market. The pieces are currently part of a touring exhibition in Sotheby's New York and Paris and will be exhibited at La Galleria, Royal Opera Arcade on Pall Mall, London on Sunday December 6 from 12 noon - 5pm before being sold on December 7 and 8 at the same venue.

See www.audreyhepburn.com for more information on the charity. See www.kerrytaylorauctions.com for more information about the sale.