Many will always be inspired by the late Princess of Wales Diana’s sense of style. The ‘black sheep’ pullover, which was once a staple of Princess Diana’s everyday attire, will finally truly belong to someone.
This week, the unique item from the knitwear company Warm & Wonderful sold at Sotheby’s auction facility in New York for an astonishing $1.14 million (about £916,700), well surpassing the original estimated worth of £40,000 to £70,000.
Diana’s famous sweater and two letters expressing her appreciation for the clothing item were offered for sale in the course of the first Fashion Icons auction. The sweater was referred to as the princess’ “much-loved knit” in one letter, while her favorite clothing item was thanked in the other.
Sally Muir & Johanna Osborne, the creators of Warm & Wonderful, reminisce, “A lot to our awe, the first we learned of Princess Diana Spencer wearing a sweater was when we spotted her on the main page in one of the Sunday newspapers.” “Almost immediately after, her influence had a significant impact, resulting in an increase in sales & widespread recognition of our boutique label, for for which we will always be grateful.”
The model was last manufactured by Warm & Wonderful in 1994, but it was purchased back by the company in 2019 if Jack Carlson, the artistic director of the American apparel brand Rowing Blazers, asked Muir and Osborne to resume production. When Carlson was a little child, his mother purchased an authentic sweater at the Warm & Wonderful shop in Covent Garden stand. This was the beginning of Carlson’s admiration for Diana’s style.
According to Carlson, She is a fashion icon. “After spent the early 1990s in Northern London’s Hampstead with my family, it could have seemed unavoidable. She was an expert at combining high and cheap, and she combined the clothes markets for men and women.
“I get the impression that she considered both the aesthetics and the semiotics of what she wore. In a strange sense, she was creating streetwear before it became popular, yet at the exact same time, she represented the Sloane Ranger. She was full of contrasts, which is why made her so recognizable. The ‘Revenge Dress’ & the ‘Warm & Wonderful Jumper’ are, in my opinion, the two most recognizable outfits she ever wore. Emma Corrin, who portrayed a young Diana in the well-known Netflix drama The Crown, wore the reissued design, which quickly sold out.
Why, therefore, is the princess’ look still so recognizable decades later? According to Cynthia Houlton, the worldwide head of fashion and accessories at Sotheby’s, “Princess Diana’s fashion decisions broke the mold by reflecting the shifting social climate as well as embracing developing perceptions of femininity, to her formative years as a reserved and introverted royal through her later years as an assertive and independent woman.
According to Houlton, Princess Diana’s dress sense “inspired an outpouring of mimicry and affection, which continues to the present day, making an everlasting effect on the world of fashion and establishing Diana’s place as an icon in fashion history.” “By fusing luxurious designer pieces with more approachable everyday clothes, Diana’s style led to a surge of imitation and admiration. The elegance, charm, and strong style sense of Diana, the Princess of Wales, are revealed in this amazing garment’s immaculate preservation.