A favourite gown owned by Crown Princess Mary of Denmark is on loan to Australia’s Powerhouse Museum. The dress will go on display next month for a special exhibition honouring the life of late fashion designer Carla Zampattti.
The pale pink brocade dress was custom made for the Crown Princess in 2013 to be worn as part of a shoot at Amalienborg Palace for Australian Women’s Weekly magazine. The royal mum-of-four chose to wear designers from the country of her birth for the publication’s 80th birthday issue.
“The textured fabric was stunning against the Crown Princess’s luminous skin, she looked so regal as she sat in a gorgeous gilded chair in a room full of extraordinary tapestries,” fashion editor Mattie Cronan recalled.
The Crown Princess donned the gown again in March 2013 when she wore it to attend an official banquet hosted by Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik for Turkish President Abdullah Gul who was on a state visit to Denmark.
She also wore the gown in 2015 to pose for portraits taken alongside Crown Prince Frederik inside Amalienborg Castle.
“At the end of the [Australian Women’s Weekly] shoot she asked if she could keep the dress [and] I was delighted. She looks so beautifully regal in their 2015 official portraits. I am so proud,” the designer told Fairfax Media at the time. “When I was asked to design a gown for Princess Mary, I was thrilled. She is such a beautiful representation for this country.”
The exhibition, Zampatti Powerhouse, will feature personal items and 100 of Carla’s most memorable designs. The Aussie fashion pioneer died following a fall in April 2021.
Iconic pieces worn by other high-profile Australian women will also be on display. Among the outfits will be a jacket worn by the country’s first female Prime Minister Julia Gillard and a jumpsuit made for singer Tina Arena.
The exhibition opens on 24 November 2022.
