She is known for frugality when it comes to her fashion choices, sticking to a tried-and-tested look and frequently recycling favourite outfits.
But Princess Anne has just become an unlikely men’s fashion icon, inspiring a new collection from high-end Italian fashion house Fendi.
The brand yesterday revealed its designs for autumn and winter 2024 at Milan Fashion Week, with designer Silvia Venturini Fendi hailing the 73-year-old Princess Royal as her inspiration. She called Anne ‘the chicest woman in the world… capable of maintaining her femininity while wearing a uniform.’
The designer gushed: ‘I fell in love with the style of Princess Anne who, to my mind, is the most elegant woman in the world.’
Princess Anne in 1984 dressed for rainy weather.
Fendi yesterday revealed its designs for autumn and winter 2024 at Milan Fashion Week, with designer Silvia Venturini Fendi hailing the 73-year-old Princess Royal as her inspiration
The designer called Anne ‘the chicest woman in the world… capable of maintaining her femininity while wearing a uniform’
Venturini Fendi, 63, added that her collection is about longevity, creating ‘garments for life, not use and throw away’ – which is entirely in tune with Anne’s ethos
She continued: ‘When I saw the Coronation last year with Princess Anne in her uniform, I thought she looked beautiful. So I said, ‘let’s be inspired for a men’s collection’. I liked the idea of breaking barriers, breaking the masculine and feminine codes. The Princess Royal is very rigorous in how she dresses, with this kind of military-minded attitude, but feminine at the same time.
‘She has a life outside the spotlight. She’s kind of an anti-fashion person and, to me, that’s something that’s actually very fashionable and chic.’
Venturini Fendi, 63, added that her collection is about longevity, creating ‘garments for life, not use and throw away’ – which is entirely in tune with Anne’s ethos.
The Princess Royal is often seen recycling clothes at public events.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, she said she reused outfits ‘because I’m quite mean’. And during her tour of Sri Lanka last week, she spoke against disposable fast fashion, saying: ‘You think about how much is going into landfill…we need materials that can do more than one evolution of fashion.’
The Princess Royal is often seen recycling clothes at public events, including a blue fur-lined coat – a favourite for Christmas morning church services at Sandringham – which she has worn multiple times since 1976
Fendi’s new collection featured outfits which would suit a damp winter’s day on the moors near Balmoral, including generous overcoats, leather wellies, oiled waxed jackets and baggy sweaters in hues of moss green and slate gray
Her own wardrobe includes a blue fur-lined coat – a favourite for Christmas morning church services at Sandringham – which she has worn multiple times since 1976.
Fendi’s new collection featured outfits which would suit a damp winter’s day on the moors near Balmoral, including generous overcoats, leather wellies, oiled waxed jackets and baggy sweaters in hues of moss green and slate gray.
In her Vanity Fair interview, the Princess, who is president of the UK Fashion and Textile Association, added: ‘I still try to buy materials and have [clothes] made up because I just think that’s more fun. It also helps support those who still manufacture in this country.
‘We mustn’t forget we’ve got those skills and there are still places that do a fantastic job.’
She joked that she enjoyed wearing military garb, like the Gold Stick in Waiting uniform she wore for the Coronation, ‘because it solves my dress problem’.
