Pringle, the Princess and Paris. ‘Princess Grace: More than an image’ provides the latest stage in the long term collaboration between Pringle of Scotland and Central Saint Martins.
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Working in fashion, you’ll sometimes wonder what exactly led to the situation in which you currently find yourself. Tuesday evening in Paris was a case in point, as Pringle of Scotland hosted an intimate event at the stately Les Salons France Ameriques to toast the house’s newest archive collection, Princess Grace: Habiller Une Image. But it wasn’t just the press, who felt the regal, ceremonious air in the salons as Princess Caroline of Hanover, Tilda Swinton, Pringle CEO Douglas Fang, and Central Saint Martins’ Alistair O’Neill and Louise Wilson convened for a talk about the collection.
Professor Wilson’s MA students – who designed the capsule collection based on a Princess Grace exhibition created by O’Neill’s BA students last year at Nouveau Musée National de Monaco – were visibly enthralled as they thanked Her Royal Highness for her support and collaboration on the collection. “If we were meeting Princess Caroline before an exhibition opening, we all had to make sure that we arrived before her,” O’Neill recalled of his students’ work on the project.
“But then at the same time, we would have very casual exchanges. Of course it’s very important to act in terms of correct protocol, but I think what’s been very rewarding about this project is the way in which Princess Caroline has been very casual in her approach to our project, and that’s been really lovely.” As the daughter of Grace Kelly, the Hollywood actress who married the sovereign of Monaco and became Princess Grace to the world, Princess Caroline (who’s married to the Prince of Hanover) curated the exhibition in Monaco and gave Pringle and the CSM students access to never-before-seen photo and video material from her personal archives.
The collaboration resulted in a collection, which doesn’t just celebrate Princess Grace’s love of all things Pringle, but provides a unique glimpse into a lesser-known part of her legendary wardrobe. “I think what’s interesting about Princess Grace, and certainly what we’ve learned through the project, is that there was another side to her, which was very much behind closed doors. The thing that continues in her wardrobe when she was at home was the knitwear and the pearls,” O’Neill told i-D after the talk.
As ambassador for Pringle of Scotland, Tilda Swinton graced the event with her ethereal beauty wearing a floor-length dress she designed for collection, inspired by her favourite Princess Grace look from the Old Hollywood classic, High Society. For all the royalty and Hollywood glamour in the room, the event – and the collection, not least – had a natural atmosphere to it, which above all celebrated a personal side to one of the most stylish princesses and actresses of the twentieth century.
Text: Anders Christian Madsen
Photogrpahy: Courtesy of Pringle of Scotland
