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Much like in the 1980s, Princess Diana‘s iconic sheep jumper has made an impression on winter 2021 style. Following a successful collaboration with clothing brand Rowling Blazers in October 2020, Warm & Wonderful is relaunching its dedicated shopfront online. The brand is offering its signature black sheep print in new colours of “Primrose Hill Pink” and “Bowie Blue” to expand on the existing collection of “Diana Red” and “Original Green”. Warm & Wonderful is also adding accessories, loungewear, and homeware that makes for stylish festive gifting.
Founded by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne in 1979, Warm & Wonderful first appeared at a market stall in Covent Garden when the friends were 28 years old. “We quickly became known for our sheep sweaters — wool jumpers covered with rows of little white sheep, and one proverbial ‘black sheep’,” the founders share on their website. “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!). The sweater seemed to resonate among some other black sheep of the time too: David Bowie, Andy Warhol, Shelley Duvall, Penelope Keith, Anthony Andrews — and, of course, Lady Diana Spencer.”
Muir revealed in an interview for The Daily Telegraph that Princess Diana actually had two sheep jumpers. Although Muir isn’t certain how Diana damaged the first one, she always imagined that “her enormous engagement ring caught in the threads.” Muir explained that “it was sent back to us with a very charming letter from her secretary, saying how much she loved it and could we mend it. We decided that rather than cobble together the damaged one, we’d make her a perfect new one, which is what we did. Hence, the two.”
Fancy gifting a piece of the black sheep collection to a loved one, or yourself? Keep reading for our top picks.
