Princess Diana's pre-loved 'black sheep' jumper to be auctioned

LONDON - A jumper worn by Britain’s late Princess Diana and depicting a black sheep is headed for auction later this summer with a price estimate of up to $80,000 (S$106,000).

Designed by knitwear label Warm & Wonderful, the sweater, which will headline Sotheby's Fashion Icons Aug 31-Sept 14 online sale, was rediscovered in an attic earlier this year by one of the brand's founders.

Diana first wore the red jumper, which depicts a lone black sheep among rows of white sheep, to watch then Prince Charles play in a polo game in June 1981, a month before they were married, sparking speculation over its potential significance.

After it was damaged on the wrist, her private secretary Oliver Everett wrote to Warm & Wonderful co-founder Joanna Osborne asking if it could be repaired and the jumper was sent back. A few months later, Diana received a replacement, which she was photographed wearing in 1983.

Osborne found the original in a box in her attic in March.

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"If you’re Princess Diana, certainly you have access to lots of pieces of apparel you could choose to wear," Cynthia Houlton, global head of fashion at Sotheby's, told Reuters at a press preview in London on Monday.

"And the fact that she wanted a replacement and then again two years later wore... the replacement sweater, I think speaks really volumes from her how much this sweater meant to her.”

The jumper, which is being sold with Everett's two letters to Osborne, has a price estimate of $50,000-$80,000.

Earlier this year, Sotheby's sold a purple, velvet, strapless evening gown worn by Diana, designed by couturier Victor Edelstein for his autumn 1989 collection, for just over $600,000, five times its pre-auction estimate.

The jumper and letters are on display at Sotheby's London until Wednesday. They will go on show in New York in September.