Princess Diana’s Infamous Black Sheep Sweater Just Sold at Auction for a Record Price
Which greatly exceeded its offered estimate.
Just months after it was first announced back in June that Princess Diana’s iconic black sheep sweater would soon hit the auction block, the sale is now finally complete. On Thursday, the historic knit sold for $1.143 million at Sotheby’s Fashion Icons auction during New York Fashion Week, setting the record for the highest price ever paid for an item worn by the late princess.
Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images
According to CNN, the garment sold for $1.1 million (notably higher than the offered estimate of $50,000 to $80,000) after just 15 minutes of bidding. People notes that the sale also broke the previous record set by Diana’s Victor Edelstein gown, which sold for $604,800 back in January.
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The late Princess of Wales first wore the sweater during an appearance at one of Prince Charles’ polo matches in 1981. In their announcement of the sweater’s availability, Sotheby's explained that “the media, fashion critics, and the public alike carefully dissected the sweater’s black sheep symbolism.”
Related: Prince William Took up One of Princess Diana’s Passions by Opening a New Cancer Center
“After damaging her much-loved sweater, Diana sent it back to the label alongside a request for repair. Instead, an entirely new sweater was knitted and returned to her,” Sotheby’s added in an Instagram post. “This past March, as we were rummaging through the attic searching for an old pattern, we spotted a small box…Inside, tucked away beside a cotton bedspread was Diana’s original red sheep sweater from 1981.”
In addition to sharing the sweater’s lore on Instagram, one of the designers of the piece, Joanna Osborne, opened up about discovering the garment in detail when talking to People ahead of the auction.
“I was in the attic in February searching for a pattern, and I just happened to notice this old wine box in a corner — and there was a red sheep jumper wrapped in a cotton bedspread,” she shared. “It was well preserved, and I had a kind of Groundhog Day moment and thought, 'Could this be the one?' I looked at the cuff, which had obviously been sewn back on, and I called Sal and said, 'I think I’ve found the actual real Diana jumper!’”
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