At KOTUR, as keen followers of Oscar Wilde’s brilliant quote, “Be yourself, everyone else is taken,” we are always huge admirers of women who have forged their own way through life. Hepburn survived a childhood in war-torn Holland before starting out as a ballerina in London. She went on to become one of the most famous actresses Hollywood ever produced, only to turn her back on it pretty conclusively for a life as a mother and humanitarian. And she did it all inimitably and unforgettably her way. Whether you look at her career or her fashion choices, the ones she made were distinctly hers and hers alone. It is this strength of character that makes her such an indelible person in all of our minds. It doesn’t matter which era you look at her from – or in – Audrey Hepburn always seems somehow the same.

The opportunity to look at just such images has come about again with the launch at the National Portrait Gallery in London of a new exhibition, Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon. What makes this show so special are the many previously unseen portraits being shown alongside the well known taken by Irving Penn, Norman Parkinson and Cecil Beaton. Featuring a large collection of photographs from her sons’ private collections for the first time, this exhibition shows Hepburn the star as well as Hepburn the person. You will find photographs of her dancing as a teenager, or clutching a bunch of flowers as a young girl, her behind the scenes and off duty, not being ‘Audrey Hepburn’ but simply being herself. What’s truly striking, however, is how little difference there is between the two. As this exhibition shows, the essence of what was so attractive about her – her steady, honest gaze, her unique look, her entirely unpretentious sense of style – shone through no matter what the circumstances or time of her life she found herself in. On such things is true beauty built. Hepburn more than proves it.

Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon is on at London’s National Portrait Gallery from July 2^nd 2015

Photo courtesy of Norman Parkinson Archive, Jack Cardiff, The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive, Douglas Kirkland, Robert Walders, National Portrait Gallery

Mia Farrow and Lee Radziwill at Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball  Held at the Plaza in 1966 to celebrate the success of his novel ‘In Cold Blood,’ Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball was arguably one of the most glamorous parties New York had ever seen. 500 of the city’s most beautiful were carefully picked by the author to attend, and all had to adhere to his strict black and white dress code. What that made for were some stunning outfits – not least Mia Farrow on the arm of Frank Sinatra in a simple white babydoll mini, long white gloves and feline mask and Lee Radziwill, resplendent in a full length embroidered kaftan style gown. See them in our gallery above.

Audrey Hepburn wears Paco Rabanne in Two for the Road  In 1967′s Two for the Road, Hepburn got hip in several signature 1960′s designers. Most knockout look, however, was probably that of Paco Rabanne’s signature metal paillette dress. A swinging sixties look that we’d be happy to emulate, any day.

Bianca Jagger at her Studio 54 Birthday Party, 1977  As party entrances go, Bianca Jagger riding into her 30th birthday party at Studio 54 atop a white horse is up there with the most dazzling of them. Dressed in fire engine red Halston, her outfit epitomised that oh so seventies glamour of the day.

Supermodels in Alaia  Alaia is the man many a model has gone to for their party dress for decades (just ask Naomi Campbell.) And here, shot for the pages of French Elle in 1990 by Gilles Bensimon, it’s easy to see why. As worn by a host of supermodels including Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington, here was the 1990′s most iconic party look: bodycon by way of Alaia.

Kate Moss’s 30th Birthday Party Look: At her F Scott Fitzgerald inspired, ‘The Beautiful and The Damned’ themed birthday party held at London’s Claridges hotel, Moss wowed in a vintage, midnight blue sequinned gown. Elegant, decadent, Art Deco inspired and incredibly chic.