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It seems that sartorial entrepreneurship is catching in the royal household.
Just last month the Duchess of Sussex unveiled her Smart Set capsule clothing range, created by Jigsaw, John Lewis & Partners, Marks & Spencer and her designer friend Misha Nonoo, in aid of the Smart Works charity.
And today, her father-in-law The Prince of Wales has announced that his charity The Prince’s Foundation will collaborate with global online fashion retailer Yoox Net-A-Porter to create a luxury capsule menswear and womenswear collection.
The Modern Artisan project will give students from the UK and Italy the chance to help design and craft the sustainable fashion line as part of a new textiles skills training initiative.
Launching next year, the collection will be sold across all four of the firm’s brands – Yoox, Net-A-Porter, Mr Porter and The Outnet – with profits donated to The Prince’s Foundation.
Six Italian students from Politecnico di Milano will design the collection, while The Prince’s Foundation will work with six graduates from the UK, who will take part in a specially designed four-month training course in luxury small batch production skills at Dumfries House in Scotland.
The UK students will learn how to work with wool, cashmere and silk fabrics – the first hint of what luxury clothing the collection will include.
Charles visited students at Dumfries House with Yoox Net-A-Porter chairman Federico Marchetti to mark the unveiling of the concept.
“Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, so we are proud to have partnered with Yoox Net-A-Porter group to deliver this truly innovative training programme,” she said.
Mr Marchetti said: “Designed in Italy and crafted in the UK, the Modern Artisan collection will be an important expression of how talent and technology can work across boundaries and borders.”
He added that the project will also focus on fusing “traditional craft with digitally-infused creativity – and, importantly, to do so sustainably, following the example of HRH The Prince of Wales, who has dedicated the last 40 years to building a more sustainable future.”
Meeting in cultural exchanges both in Milan and in Scotland, the trainee artisans will collaborate on product development from the design stage through to final samples.
The Modern Artisan collection will be launched in mid-2020.
