Princess Diana is considered to be one of the world’s greatest style icons, but it wasn’t all about the glamorous evening gowns. Diana also had a love for quirky knitwear – and some of her most memorable pieces from the ’80s have been reissued by the vintage-inspired brand Rowing Blazers. For their Fall/Winter 2020 collection, which dropped last week, the vintage-inspired brand teamed up with designers Gyles x George and Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne of Warm & Wonderful.
For many, the highlight of the collection is Muir and Osborne’s red sweater dotted with white sheep and a single black sheep. Diana was photographed wearing this at a polo match in 1983, and there’s no doubt of the message she was sending. (In later years, Diana would be more vocal about feeling like an outsider in the royal family.)
Since Diana never visited their London shop, Muir and Osborne believe the sweater was gifted to the young royal.
“We always knit things we would like to wear ourselves,” Osborne told People in 1983. “The sheep jumper just seemed ironic, to have a sheep motif on a wool sweater.”
“Diana was the first member of the royal family that we can remember who had any interest in fashion at all,” Muir and Osborne told People. “She had a much more adventurous and youthful style than what we were used to in our royalty, and she took an obvious delight in clothes and wore them with terrific style. It’s a delight for us to see a new generation enjoying something we made many years ago and adapting it to a new fashion era.”
Also in the collection is a reissue of the Gyles x George baby-pink sweater reading, “I’m a luxury… few can afford.”
Gyles Brandreth, half of the design team behind the “Luxury” sweater, told People, “Diana loved Gyles and George jumpers. I know because she told me. She wore them because they stood out from the crowd, and she liked that. They suited her classy, confident, colorful style. She liked them too because they were witty — and she liked to laugh.”
Both sweater styles are currently available on the Rowing Blazers website in both men and women’s sizes for $295. Due to demand, the women’s sheep sweater was available on pre-order only at publication time.
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