Prince Charles has launched a high-end sustainable fashion collection with Yoox Net-a-Porter.
The 71-year-old royal – who is the first in line to the British throne – co-founded the The Modern Artisan project last year with students from the UK and Italy and the online retailer, and he has been “enormously impressed” by their efforts to come up with pieces that aren’t wasteful.
Charles said: “I’ve been enormously impressed by the efforts, the ideas and the vision shown by the artisans from the UK and Italy. Hopefully they will take away a great deal of skill and understanding of sustainable approaches to design and manufacturing that they can apply to their own businesses or future careers. The key for me is to rediscover the importance that nature plays, understand where natural materials come from and how they can be used in exciting and innovative ways. After all, nature is the source of everything.”
All of the money raised from the 18-piece ‘YOOX NET-A-PORTER for The Prince’s Foundation’ line will be invested back into The Prince Charles Foundation to help with their efforts to train young people as part of a new textiles training initiative.
The idea came together after Charles invited Federico Marchetti, Chairman and CEO of Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, to Dumfries House in Scotland, his foundation’s HQ.
Among the luxury pieces is a men’s belted double-breasted Merino wool camel coat with a price tag of £1250, and a double-breasted checked cashmere blazer for women costing £1,095.
Meanwhile, The Prince of Wales recently admitted he “can’t bear” to throw anything away.
Charles insisted he’d rather find “another use” for waste products, whatever they are, and branded single-use society a “tragedy” that is leading to natural resources being “over-exploited”.
He said: “I’m one of those people who hate throwing anything away… I can’t bear any waste, including food waste; I’d much rather find another use.
“Which is why I’ve been going on for so long about the need for a circular economy, rather than a linear one where you just make, take and throw away – which is a tragedy, because inevitably we over-exploit natural resources that are rapidly depleting.”
When it comes to his own clothes, Charles admitted he can’t repair and maintain as much as he used to because of his changing shape.
He said: “I’d rather have them maintained, even patched if necessary, than to abandon them.
“The difficulty is, as you get older, you tend to change shape, and it’s not so easy to fit into the clothes.”
The ‘YOOX NET-A-PORTER for The Prince’s Foundation’ collection is available to purchase via Yoox Net-a-Porter’s online stores – Net-a-Porter, Mr Porter, Yoox and The Outnet.