Enlarge image
Pupils made the garments as part of a foundation project
Photo: Jane Barlow / dpa
King Charles III has cleared out: As his foundation announced, the royal has donated discarded curtains from Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle to a project for sustainable clothing production. So if you've always wanted to wrap yourself in a kimono whose fabric is decorated with blue Delft flowers and may have already been admired by the late Queen Elizabeth II, now is your chance.
The design project is part of »Future Textiles« – a group in the Royal Foundation that teaches young people the craft of textile making. Charles' donation apparently caused great joy there: "It felt like Christmas to open the packages and look through what we had received," said Jacqueline Farrell, head of the foundation's own education division.
The boxes contained 30 fabrics from the two palaces. According to the information, they hung as curtains in the private rooms of the royal family between the fifties and nineties and have been stored ever since.
The fact that they had to cut up the historical fabrics was a bit of a shock for the students, Farrell said. But then they took up the challenge of transforming them into modern designs. Kimonos were chosen because of their universal size and small section, so little material was wasted.
The resulting garments will now be auctioned online. At the time of writing, the lowest price for one of the kimonos is 600 British pounds (about 700 euros).
The proceeds will benefit the foundation and support other similar educational projects. It is also hoped that this form of upcycling will encourage people to be creative themselves. "It's not just about creating a collection that sells," Farrell said. »We hope that the project shows what can be made from vintage materials.«
ZOB