Almost four decades after Diana, Princess of Wales was first photographed in her now-infamous ‘black sheep’ sweater, her original garment is set to be sold at auction.
The red-and-white sweater, designed by the knitwear label Warm & Wonderful, is a lot included in the upcoming “Fashion Icons” sale at Sotheby’s. The estimated sale price for the sweater is $50,000 to $80,000. Bidding will open on Aug. 31 and close on Sept. 14,
Warm & Wonderful founders Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne approached Sotheby’s after finding the sweater hidden away in an attic.
According to Cynthia Houlton, Sotheby’s head of global fashion and accessories, the auction house chose the sweater to headline because “she [Diana] really represents what we think of as fashion icons,” and this is the first time the sweater has been listed on the market.
The auction house has not yet announced the other memorabilia it plans to include in the “Fashion Icons” sale.
Princess Diana’s garments have been fetching high sums at auctions for years In July 1997, just months before her death, Diana raised $3.25 million for various charitable causes selling over 70 of her dresses at Christie’s in New York. In January 2023, Sotheby’s sold a Victor Edelstein dress owned by Diana for $604,800, the highest price ever fetched at auction for one of Princess Diana’s dresses. That same month, the auction house sold Princess Diana’s Attallah Cross pendant to Kim Kardashian for £163,800 ($197,453).
Warm & Wonderful halted production of the sheep sweater in 1994, but in 2020 it collaborated with apparel brand Rowing Blazers to reissue the product, calling it the ‘Diana Edition’ Sheep Sweater.
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