Kerry Taylor

Founder, Owner and Principal Auctioneer, Kerry Taylor Auctions

Kerry Taylor is the founder, owner and principal auctioneer of Kerry Taylor Auctions. Based in the UK, she joined Sotheby’s in 1979 and became the youngest auctioneer in the company’s history at 21, was made a director in the early 1980s, and re-established auctions of costume and textiles at its New Bond Street saleroom in 1986. She founded her own house in 2003 to focus on fashion and textiles. Over more than 40 years she has handled some of the field’s most historically important collections, selling wardrobes belonging to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Princess Diana, Audrey Hepburn, Diana Vreeland, Elizabeth Taylor and Björk, with many of her discoveries now held in international museum collections. She lectures, provides valuations and sits on the UK government’s Export Review board, and is the author of “Vintage Fashion & Couture, from Poiret to McQueen” (2013) and “Galliano: Spectacular Fashion” (2019). The Guardian named her one of its Women of the Year in 2007.