Emanuel worked for two seasons as an assistant to royal designer Hardy Amies at Savile Row and, aged 25, he launched his own fashion house, Emanuel, in 1977, working in partnership with his wife Elizabeth, with whom he had two children—Oliver and Eloise. They decided to close their ready–to–wear shop in 1979, so that they could concentrate on the couture (custom made) side of the business, and became a favourite designer of Lady Diana Spencer before her marriage. In 1981, the Emanuels were chosen to design the wedding dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales. The dress—seen by over 700 million people worldwide—was made of ivory silk, pure taffeta and antique lace, with 10,000 pearls and sequins, and had a 25 ft train. Of the dress, Lisa Marsh writes in the Fashion Encyclopedia that "Creations by artists from Botticelli to Renoir and Degas were used as influences, as were photographs of some of the more romantic women in history. The garments seen on Greta Garbo in Camille, Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind, and Marlene Dietrich in The Scarlet Empress were all recreated to some degree." David continued to dress Diana, Princess of Wales after her wedding.