Fashion exhibition using plant waste from King’s garden to go on display

A range of unique outfits created with plant waste taken from the King’s gardens are set to go on display at Sandringham House.

The collection of 24 garments and accessories are part of an ongoing collaboration between designer duo Vin + Omi and Charles after they bonded over their shared passion for sustainability when they met in 2018.

The exhibition, titled Royal Garden Waste To Fashion’s Future, will be held from March 23 to October 11 in The Great Hall at Sandringham in Norfolk.

The world’s first dress made from butterbur, an invasive Asian bog-loving plant that grows beside the lakes at Sandringham (Joe Giddens/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Joe Giddens

The collection includes Vin + Omi’s initial experiments using butterbur, an invasive Asian bog-loving plant that grows beside the lakes at Sandringham.

The plant was later used to create an elegant maxi dress, which is described as a world-first.

Other outfits have been created from plant materials from the royal gardens at Highgrove in Gloucestershire and the Queen Mother’s Scottish estate, the Castle of Mey in Caithness.

The collection of 24 garments and accessories are part of an ongoing collaboration between designer duo Vin + Omi and Charles (Joe Giddens/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Joe Giddens

After their meeting in 2018, the King invited Vin + Omi to his Highgrove estate, giving them the opportunity to sift through waste from the garden and see what materials they might be able to make from it.

The following year, the designers created a new process to turn the nettles they had gathered into a versatile textile.

The material was later made into dresses and outfits for their London fashion show Sting, which was held at the Savoy Hotel.

In the new Sandringham collection, the nettle material has been used a number of times, including for a coil dress which is laid on a base of recycled groundsheet and dyed with fallen rose petals.

The coil dress was created from Highgrove nettles on a base of a recycled groundsheet and dyed with fallen rose petals (Joe Giddens/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Joe Giddens

The pair have also considered new ways of dyeing using waste plant dyes and have fashioned “hard to recycle” plant pots into jewellery in their work.

Other plant materials incorporated into their garments are cow parsley, willow, hydrangea and, from the Mey Estate, bog cotton.

The ongoing collaboration has also involved UK and international university students who have taken part in an educational programme supported by the head gardeners from Highgrove and Sandringham.

– Sandringham House and Gardens will open to visitors for the main season from March 23 to October 11.