King Charles' Collaboration with Edgy Fashion Brand Hits the Runway at London Fashion Week

Mar. 15, 2025

King Charles at Frogmore House in Windsor in 2021.Photo:Chris Jackson/Getty

Chris Jackson/Getty

King Charlesis making his mark on London Fashion Week.

Avant-garde outfits made from the weeds at royal residences will make their way down the catwalk on Sept. 13 at theVin + Omishow as London Fashion Week kicks off with a retrospective of the brand’s designs over the last two decades.

While the edgy fashion duo and the King might seem like an unlikely combination, the three have become friendly over the course of the last five years and share a deep-rooted connection when it comes to protecting the environment, with the King not only providing resources but offering mentoring, too.

The designers with King Charles at Sandringham in April 2024.VIN + OMI

VIN + OMI

“Working with Charles is not like collaborating with anyone else,” co-founder Vin tells PEOPLE exclusively ahead of their hotly anticipated show at the aptly named Kensington Building in London. “We really listen to what he says, because he knows a million more things than we do. He’s leading the way.”

Quite literally, in fact, as the last time the designers saw the King, he was showing them around his Norfolk home, Sandringham Estate, where 26 Vin + Omi designs are currently on display as part of the exhibition, “Royal Garden Waste to Fashion’s Future.”

“We hadn’t seen it yet, so it was a first for the three of us, wandering around looking at each of the dresses. He really took time going ‘round to each one,” says the designer, adding, “He wanted to touch them all, and we must have spent over an hour together looking at what we had done with all his waste plant materials. He was thrilled!”

Part of the exhibit at Sandringham Estate celebrating the collaboration between Vin + Omi and King Charles.VIN + OMI

Despite meeting him just two months after the monarch’scancer diagnosisearlier this year, both Vin and Omi were delighted to find him doing well. “Even though he was recovering from his cancer scare, he was doing great," the designer says. “He was still walking around bouncy, agile and happy. It was a thrill to see him looking so joyful.”

The designer adds, “We had the lovely gardener from Highgrove come one year, and she was so out of her comfort zone on the front row. She was sitting next to a woman who had a duvet over her head and just two eyeballs!”

“We designed a scarf for the Sandringham gift shop, which the King approved from a choice of three designs,” Vin reveals. “We looked at pictures of the late Queen’s scarves and decided it had to be floral and colorful.”

The scarf, which retailed for $112, has recently sold out.

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While they continue to educate the future generation about the impact of fast fashion on the environment, the designers know it’s a tough sell, much like it has been for the King for decades — but they always find a lightness to their chats with him.

“We are fighting our own battle the way Charles did, but he’s got such a sense of humor, which fits in perfectly with us," Vin says. “It’s always fun, but serious fun, if you know what I mean.”

source: people.com