Warm & Wonderful

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Warm & Wonderful
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryApparel
Founded1979
FounderJoanna Osborne, Sally Muir
Headquarters
London, England
Key people
Jack Carlson
(Creative Director)
ProductsLuxury apparel and accessories
Websitewarmandwonderful.com

Warm & Wonderful Knitwear is a British fashion brand specialising in knitwear. Founded by Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir in 1979, the label is best known for its "black sheep" sweater, famously worn by Diana, Princess of Wales.[1][2] In 2023, a Warm & Wonderful jumper worn by Diana became the most valuable sweater in history.[3]

History[edit]

Early history[edit]

Osborne and Muir began selling their jumpers from a market stall in London's Covent Garden in 1979. Osborne and Muir are both professional artists (Osborne a sculptor, and Muir a painter), and both have had work featured in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.[4] They have also published a series of knitting books for adults and children.

The brand's earliest designs included a jumper knitted to look like a brick wall, which customers could personalize with knitted "graffiti," and a grass-green jumper covered in knitted rows of white sheep and one black sheep.[1][5]

The "black-sheep sweater" (as it came to be known[1]), which Osborne and Muir subsequently introduced in other colours, proved to be a favourite among London's Sloane Ranger set, as well as artists, entertainers, and even royalty: David Bowie, Andy Warhol, Shelley Duvall, Penelope Keith, Anthony Andrews, and Princess Diana.[1][6][7]

About the black-sheep sweater, Osborne and Muir have stated:

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!). We never imagined that our sheep jumpers would bring so many people so much joy, though we always had fun ourselves.[8]

Diana, Princess of Wales[edit]

The brand received international attention when Diana, Princess of Wales (then Lady Diana Spencer) wore a red Warm & Wonderful sheep jumper in 1981.[5][2] Photographs of Diana wearing the sweater were circulated widely in the international media. Many members of the press speculated that the sweater was a metaphor, signaling to the world that Diana felt like the "black sheep" of the Royal Family.[1][9] Diana wore the Warm & Wonderful sheep jumper again in 1983, eliciting further media attention.[1][10]

Re-launch[edit]

In 2020, American designer Jack Carlson helped to revive the label in partnership with Osborne and Muir. Together, they re-launched the original sheep sweater for the first time in over twenty-five years (initially as a collaboration with the brand Rowing Blazers) and then re-established the Warm & Wonderful brand in its own right with Carlson serving as the label's creative director.[5][11][12]

Since then, Warm & Wonderful has been featured in Vogue, ELLE, The Telegraph, The Times, Tatler, Harper's Bazaar, People, The Financial Times, Town and Country, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker.[13][14][15][16][5][11][12][17][1][18]

In 2021 and 2022, Warm & Wonderful launched collaborations with luxury British luggage manufacturer Globe-Trotter and with heritage footwear company Sperry Top-Sider, featuring luggage and handbags, and canvas sneakers, respectively, emblazoned with its famous sheep motif.[19][20][21]

Products and distribution[edit]

Aside from its famous sheep sweater in a range of colours, Warm & Wonderful has offered other knitwear designs over the years, ranging from other humorous or country-themed graphic jumpers to solid-colour Shetland, cashmere, and cotton knits. The label has also created accessories and other apparel featuring its sheep motif, including its collaborations with Globe-Trotter and Sperry.[12][22][23]

Warm & Wonderful knitwear has been sold at Saks, Henri Bendel, Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Liberty, Isetan, Mitsukoshi, Le Bon Marché, and many other stores over the years; and since 1982, Osborne and Muir have operated shops in Wandsworth, Primrose Hill, and Brighton — most recently opening a pop-up shop in London's Seven Dials district, very near the original market stall in Covent Garden in 2021.[24]

Impact[edit]

Actress Emma Corrin, portraying Princess Diana, wore a Warm & Wonderful sheep sweater on the Netflix series The Crown.[25]

The Victoria & Albert Museum, Britain's national archive of textiles and fashion, features a Warm & Wonderful sheep jumper in its permanent collection as part of Britain's national cultural heritage.[26][25][2]

In 2023, Sotheby's announced that it would be bringing Diana's original Warm & Wonderful sweater to auction during New York Fashion Week, headlining its inaugural "Fashion Icons" sale. The sweater, which carried an estimate of $50,000-$80,000,[27] sold for $1.14 million, making it the most valuable sweater in history.[28][3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Syme, Rachel (20 November 2020). "The Second Life of Princess Diana's Most Notorious Sweater". The New Yorker. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Taylor, Elise (17 November 2020). "An Ode to Princess Diana's Campy Sweaters and Cardigans". Vogue. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Behold: The Most Expensive Sweater in the World". Vogue. 14 September 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  4. ^ Fox, Genevieve (12 February 2023). "'They save us': Sally Muir on the art of drawing rescue dogs". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d Holt, Bethan (11 October 2020). "The story behind Princess Diana's most famous jumpers – and how you can now buy them again". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  6. ^ Twardzik, Eric (20 October 2021). "Warm & Wonderful, the Maker of Princess Diana's Infamous Black Sheep Sweater, Is Back". Robb Report. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  7. ^ "'80s Brand Behind Princess Diana's Sheep Sweater Launches a New Collection For the Festive Season". Yahoo Life. 14 October 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  8. ^ "About Us". Warm & Wonderful. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  9. ^ Cronin, Emily. "Princess Diana's 12 most influential looks". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  10. ^ Holt, Bethan (16 November 2020). "Revealed: why Princess Diana had to replace her beloved sheep jumper". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Baaaa for business: Princess Diana's iconic sheep sweater is back". Financial Times. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  12. ^ a b c "The Iconic Black Sheep Sweater Is Discounted Right Now". Town & Country. 5 January 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  13. ^ McFarland, Jane. "Princess Diana has inspired these statement cardigans". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  14. ^ Sampson, Annabel (15 October 2020). "Princess Diana's famous sheep jumper is being reissued". Tatler. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  15. ^ "Rowing Blazers Rereleases Two of Princess Diana's Most Iconic Sweaters". Harper's BAZAAR. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  16. ^ Petit, Stephanie (16 July 2020). "Princess Diana's 'Black Sheep' Sweater Spoke Volumes — and She Was Only 21!". People. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  17. ^ Kirkpatrick, Emily (8 October 2020). "You Can Now Buy an Exact Replica of Princess Diana's Famous "Black Sheep" Sweater". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Why the Fashion World Still Looks to Princess Diana". ELLE. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  19. ^ "A New Way to Sport Princess Di's "Black Sheep" Sweater". airmail.news. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  20. ^ Garner, Stephen (14 February 2022). "Princess Diana's Famous Red Sheep Sweater is Getting the Sperry Treatment for Fall". Footwear News. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  21. ^ Bell, Carrie (16 November 2022). "Princess Diana's Iconic Sheep Sweater Is Reincarnated As Sperry Sneakers". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  22. ^ "A New Way to Sport Princess Di's "Black Sheep" Sweater". airmail.news. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  23. ^ Bell, Carrie (16 November 2022). "Princess Diana's Iconic Sheep Sweater Is Reincarnated As Sperry Sneakers". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  24. ^ Garner, Stephen (14 October 2021). "WARM & WONDERFUL LAUNCH NEW WEBSITE, SHOP, AND COLLECTION". MR Magazine. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  25. ^ a b "The True Story Behind Princess Diana's 'Black Sheep' Jumper". Grazia USA. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  26. ^ Museum, Victoria and Albert (1979). "Sheep | Osborne, Joanna (Muir & Osborne) | Muir, Sally (Muir & Osborne) | V&A Explore The Collections". Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  27. ^ "Princess Diana's famous sheep jumper is going to auction". Harper's BAZAAR. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  28. ^ Dolan, Leah; CNN (14 September 2023). "Princess Diana's 'black sheep' knit is the most valuable sweater ever sold at auction". CNN. Retrieved 25 November 2023. {{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
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