A forthcoming fashion exhibition is scheduled to take place at the royal residence of Sandringham House in Norfolk, showcasing a collection that prioritizes sustainability by utilizing plant waste harvested from the gardens of King Charles III.
Entitled “Royal Garden Waste To Fashion’s Future,” the exhibition is a collaborative effort between the King and the fashion designer duo Vin + Omi, with whom he established a connection in 2018 due to their shared commitment to environmental consciousness.
Recognized for his advocacy for environmental causes as well as his penchant for double-breasted tailoring, Charles extended an invitation to the designers to Highgrove in Gloucestershire, where they sifted through garden waste to experiment with creating materials.
The collection will feature 24 garments and accessories that merge eco-awareness with innovation. Notably, it will include the world’s inaugural maxi dress crafted from butterbur, an Asian bog plant found alongside the lakes at Sandringham.
In a previous endeavor in 2020, Vin + Omi successfully produced a versatile textile from nettles sourced from Highgrove, which was subsequently fashioned into dresses and ensembles for their London fashion show, Sting, held at the Savoy Hotel.
For the new exhibition, outfits have been fashioned from the same material, along with other plant-based materials such as cow parsley, willow, hydrangea, and bog cotton, sourced from the royal gardens at Highgrove and the Queen Mother’s Scottish estate, the Castle of Mey in Caithness.
Additionally, garments have been colored using dyes extracted from discarded plant materials, while “hard-to-recycle” plant pots have been repurposed to craft jewelry. One notable creation set to be showcased at Sandringham is a coil dress crafted from nettles and dyed with fallen rose petals.
This marks not the first venture into fashion design for the King. In 2020, he initiated a clothing collaboration between YOOX Net-A-Porter, an online fashion retailer, and his charity, The Prince’s Foundation, with proceeds benefiting the charity.
Sandringham House and its Gardens, along with the exhibition housed in The Great Hall, will be accessible to visitors from March 23 to October 11.
