The identity of the winning bidder has not been disclosed.
Princess Diana’s iconic red ‘black sheep’ sweater has sold for more than $1.1 million, the highest price paid for any garment sold at auction and worn by the Princess. BBC reported. The red sweater worn by a young Princess Diana shows a single black sheep among rows of woolly white sheep. She first wore the garment when she attended a polo match in 1981, shortly after she and Prince Charles announced their engagement. CNN. The sweater became one of the most emblematic pieces of clothing worn by Princess Diana. Many speculated that the princess liked the ‘black sheep’ pattern because she felt like an outsider in the royal family.
“Unlike most items we have seen pass through the hands of lucky collectors and museums in the more than 25 years since her death, the sweater came before so much of the turmoil that ultimately defined Diana’s life,” Sotheby’s said in its statement. website. introduction of the auction.
The sweater sold for $1.1 million at Sotheby’s first Fashion Icons auction on Thursday. It was recently rediscovered by creators Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir, and its original estimated price was between $50,000 and $80,000. However, after 44 bids, the price reached 14 times higher than expected. The sale then culminated in a fierce 15-minute bidding war, raising the price from $190,000 to $1.1 million.
Meanwhile, the identity of the winning bidder has not been revealed.
#Auctionupdate: Frenzied bidding helped Princess Diana’s historic Warm & Wonderful black sheep sweater sell for $1.1 million today in our first Fashion Icons auction on #SothebysNewYork. pic.twitter.com/zyUYfuuS3Q
— Sotheby’s (@Sotheby’s) September 14, 2023
“We are thrilled that this beloved sweater has now found a new home and carries with it the lasting legacy of Princess Diana,” Muir and Osborne said in a statement.
Notably, it is now also the most valuable sweater ever sold at auction, breaking the existing record for Kurt Cobain’s green vest, which sold for $334,000 in 2019.
Diana, the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry, divorced King Charles in 1996. She died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 at the age of 36.
