Decades after the fashion icon made headlines for her consistently remarkable sense of style, Princess Diana's iconic black sheep sweater is making waves after being sold at auction. It is now the world's most expensive sweater.

You wouldn't imagine a simple sweater fetching much of a price.

Sure, there are some expensive jumpers and hoodies out there in the world, but even the hottest brands will have a certain ceiling.

But Lady Di's iconic sweater is not just any piece of fashion – and it has just broken some pretty major records!

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So, what's the story behind Princess Diana's iconic and world record-breaking black sheep sweater? Why did it sell for so much, and what was the context in which it fetched such a high cost? Let's take a look.

In a press release provided to TAG24, Sotheby's Auction House has announced the sale of Princess Diana's iconic black sheep sweater for $1.1 million. This makes it not only the most expensive and valuable sweater ever sold, but also sets a world record for any Lady Di clothing or items sold at auction.

What was most remarkable about the sale, though, was not the price itself but the extraordinary increase it sustained above its initial estimate. The red sweater was originally expected to fetch a still-impressive $80,000 but, after 44 bids, its final price ended up being more than ten times that amount.

Commenting on the result of the sale, Warm and Wonderful co-founders Sally Muir and Janna Osborne said: "Since stumbling upon the sweater in March of this year, we have been reliving the fond memories of Princess Diana appearing on the front pages of every newspaper in 1981, wearing our very own sweater."

Warm and Wonderful were founded in 1979 and specialized in the bright red jumpers that Lady Di made famous. She first wore their product publically only a short time later, when she sported the iconic black sheep sweater at a polo match in the early 1980s. Since then, the company has done very well and even advertises replicas of the sweater, retailing on their website for more than $300 each.

In response to the sale of Lady Di's black sheep sweater, a representative of Sotheby's said that the auction house was "immensely privileged to showcase these treasures to the world."

The famous snaps of Princess Diana sporting her iconic black sheep sweater dropped only about four months after Lady Di and Prince Charles got engaged. It was an instant sensation and, in the years since, has only grown in curiosity and speculation, with many believing it to be a secret message from the late Princess.

For starters, many pundits believe that the black sheep on the sweater was a representation of herself as the "odd one out". After all, at the time it had become clear to Diana that this was not going to be an easy life and that she was a bit of a fish out of water out and about with all this royalty.

As such, people believed that the black sheep sweater was a cheeky jab when she wore it, and emblematic of her struggles. Others disagree, though, believing that the speculation is merely a symptom of Lady Di's post-passing passage into folk lore and popular culture.

Eleri Lynn, trustee at the Royal School of Needlework, told BBC culture: "We're probably reading more into it in hindsight. I don't believe at that time she would have had a sense of the 'one black sheep' idea, or that she even had a sense of the impact of the fashion she wore."

"She was a very young woman who was developing her own sense of style. She was very much of her time in terms of fashion."

While Princess Diana may be nearly 30 years gone, her legacy has managed to maintain its significance in the popular culture. Earlier this year, her son Prince Harry released a memoir which heavily features his mother, and as we can see through the story of her black sheep sweater, her impact on fashion has only grown since.

So it's important to keep these things in mind when considering a sweater that has gone for as much money as this one. It isn't about the sweater itself, it isn't about the fabric or the color or the looks, it's about Lady Di as a fashion icon, and the fact that her legacy will never die.