Princess Diana’s bold, iconic fashion statements have been recreated with almost precision-like detail in Netflix’s The Crown. And any knitwear obsessive will have spotted Di’s ‘black sheep’ crewneck sweater that she famously wore in 1980 to Charles’ polo matches. A nostalgic throwback to the decade, it’s left many viewers lusting after a sweater of their own.
Incredibly, the sheep sweater has now been recommissioned by Rowing Blazers in a collaboration with Warm & Wonderful, the original designers. This iconic red knit, emblazoned with rows of sheep (including one black sheep), can be yours for £250.
“Warm & Wonderful created the original sheep jumper in 1979, and shot to fame when a young Princess Diana began wearing it. Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir, who founded Warm & Wonderful and designed the very first black sheep sweater, haven’t produced the design since 1994, until now. Made to the original design, the Warm & Wonderful sheep sweater is back — the original, and the same pattern famously worn by the Princess of Wales — exclusively as a collaboration between Warm & Wonderful and Rowing Blazers.”
– Rowing Blazers
“As artists, we’ve always identified with black sheep ourselves: because of a recessive gene, black sheep are born with black wool in flocks of otherwise white sheep (in a flock of a hundred, there might only be one black sheep!),” wrote Osborne and Muir. “Since Diana’s first public appearance in one of our bright red sheep jumpers — at a polo match in 1980 — she and the design have been inextricably linked.”
– Rowing Blazers
A piece of knitwear history, the jumper was so fitting for Diana perhaps because it encapsulated what the young princess was all about; not fitting in, not keeping with traditional societal norms. Instead she represented going against the grain. Standing out. Making a statement.
The sweater is currently available for pre-order only due to incredible demand, but being produced swiftly in the new year.
The knitting pattern for this sweater has also been reproduced by Pennies Per Hour of Pleasure to raise funds for Doctors Without Borders as a charitable campaign. Knitters are encouraged to make a donation to Doctors Without Borders should they use this iconic British jumper pattern. A cause that Diana herself would surely be proud of. Get knitting!
IMAGERY: Getty Images, Tim Graham, The Crown/Netflix, Rowing Blazers.
Moss & Purl 