Princess Diana’s sweater style is inspiring a new generation
Princess Diana’s fashion icon status is as clear as ever — and now her famous styles can be in anyone’s closet.
Rowing Blazers, the vintage-inspired New York brand that counts Timothée Chalamet and Russell Westbrook as fans, is launching its first women’s collection — and they’ve looked to the Princess of Wales as inspiration.
In addition to 1980s Diana-influenced hats, blazers and bike shorts, Diana’s iconic sweaters — often with a not-so-hidden message — are making a comeback. The collection even revives the “black sheep sweater,” collaborating with original designers Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne.
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Princess Diana. Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty; Rowing Blazers
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“Diana was the first member of the royal family that we can remember who had any interest in fashion at all,” the designers tell 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.”
They add, “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.”
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Princess Diana’s relaunched black sheep sweater. Rowing Blazers
Since Diana never visited their London shop, Warm and Wonderful, Muir and Osborne believe the sweater, which the royal wore to polo matches in the 1980s, was a gift.
“We always knit things we would like to wear ourselves,” Osborne told PEOPLE about the best-selling item in 1983.
Though copied, Osborne and Muir (now both fine artists) have not produced the original sweater pattern since 1994. With a collaborative label, Warm and Wonderful for Rowing Blazers, the famous sweater that is intrinsically tied to Princess Diana is finally back.
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Princess Diana. Princess Diana Archive/Getty
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Prince Charles, Sarah Ferguson and Princess Diana. Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty
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Princess Diana also made a statement with a soft pink and white sweater with the cryptic phrase “I’m a luxury” blocked out across the front. Now, British designer George Hostler and his compatriot Gyles Brandreth — a writer, broadcaster and sometime member of British Parliament — have brought back the design for Rowing Blazers’ inaugural women’s collection.
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Princess Diana’s relaunched “I’m a Luxury” sweater. Rowing Blazers
“Diana loved Gyles and George jumpers. I know because she told me,” Brandreth tells PEOPLE. “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.”
When deciding to launch the Gyles and George label in 2020, Brandreth says the “I’m a Luxury” knit was a key element.
“It was always one of our favorites and so completely Diana at her laidback smart-casual best,” he says.
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The collection is made entirely in Great Britain, Europe and the United States. The sweaters will retail for $295, with other pieces in the collection ranging from $48 to $795.
