Celeb stylist who dressed Diana and Liz Hurley ‘banned from serving Prem footballers’ by Harvey Nichols
A CELEB stylist who dressed Princess Di and Liz Hurley is suing Harvey Nichols for age discrimination — claiming he was barred from serving Prem footballers.
Furious Dean Aslett, 55, says England stars Bukayo Saka and Ivan Toney were top clients at the luxury department store and would blow up to £35,000 during lavish spending sprees.
Dean was dubbed “Mr Safety Pin” for picking out actress Hurley’s famous Versace side-fastened dress in the 1990s.
But the personal shopper says Arsenal winger Saka, 24, former Brentford striker Toney, 29, and other footie aces were routinely handed to younger colleagues.
Dean said: “I’ve been working as a stylist for 35 years and I thought I would have something to bring to the table but, if anything, my experience worked against me.
“The management would give me all the difficult, much older clients no one wanted to service, while all the lucrative appointments with affluent young people were given to others, so I was effectively being penalised.
“Premier League footballers were coming in and they were amongst the biggest spenders.
“They could drop between £10,000 and £35,000 a time.
“I remember Saka spent over £10,000 on clothes for a Halloween party in October 2024.
“He was also buying clothes for his girlfriend and he was handed straight to a young personal shopper.
“Ivan Toney came in with about ten of the Brentford team — again it was a five-figure sum they spent. But they refused to give any of the high-net-worth footballers to me.”
Dean once worked with Diana and helped style Elton John and Joan Collins while at Versace.
In 1994, he was asked to pick a film premiere frock for Hurley. The black number he chose became known as “that dress” — held together by giant safety pins and making her a huge star.
But he claims he faced discrimination from his first day at Harvey Nichols in London in January 2024. He was let go in December the same year.
His employment tribunal case against the company is due in April. Harvey Nichols said it was unable to comment ahead of it.