Since she packed up her life in Sydney to make the big move to Europe for love more than two decades ago, Queen Mary of Denmark has proudly continued to wave the fashion flag of the country of her birth. Australian brands including Zimmermann, Scanlan Theodore and Canopy Bay have all been on high rotation in her wardrobe, both while on royal duty and off.
So, it comes as somewhat of a surprise to learn that one of the Queen’s favourite local occasion wear labels was brought to her attention by her Danish husband. Moss & Spy’s founder and creative director Lia Tsimos shares with The Weekly the romantic story of how King Frederik X introduced his wife to the brand when the then Crown Prince popped into her boutique while visiting Sydney in December 2017.
“I was out in the back storeroom and a man walked in while my sales manager was serving so I came out to help because we always make a huge fuss when a man comes in because it’s so romantic when they come to buy a present for their wives,” Lia explains. “It was Crown Prince Frederik! He was this lovely man, who was just dressed in casual board shorts who chose a very beautiful dress. It was an embroidered, fitted-to-the-bodice then full skirt midi dress with a gorgeous bird print that I boxed up for him.”
While Lia admits her royal customer made the store “quite the talk of Woollahra” at the time, she had no idea what Mary thought of the gift or if she’d ever see her in it. So, it was a “very proud” moment when the brand’s social media accounts started blowing up in May 2018 after the Crown Princess attended an event at The Nordic Museum in Seattle, Washington, wearing the Eden dress that Fred had purchased that day.
“I was ecstatic to see her wear the dress and she looked so beautiful,” says Lia.
Since then, the label has struck up a regular relationship with the palace, sending their look book each season so Mary can pick out what she likes from the collection. Late last year, shortly before the news of Queen Margrethe’s abdication broke, which elevated Mary and Fred to their new roles as King and Queen, they sent Mary the Yvette dress, which will be available to buy soon.
“It’s a beautiful floral dress with soft pinks and pops of mint green,” reveals Lia. “It was very much in keeping with her style as Crown Princess, so we’ll have to see if she still wears it now as Queen.”
After the Eden dress, Mary has been seen wearing another two garments from the label. She stepped out in the Clarissa dress, a multi-tone lace frock with navy trim while visiting the US state of Texas in March 2019.
Her favourite though, appears to be a stunning pale blue and white fitted midi dress with a full skirt, cap sleeves and scallop neck detail. After debuting the Elodie dress during a night out in Paris in October 2019, Mary has worn it twice more.
It has become a particular fan favourite as well, giving the label a boost onto the world’s stage each time she is photographed in it.
“People enquire from all over the world asking if we can just please do another run on that dress,” Lia says. “Mary’s elegance and her presence really resonate with so many women who want to capture a little piece of that.”
While the garment is one that they do continue to make “in different colourways and necklines” thanks to its popularity, Lia confirms that they won’t be making an exact copy of Mary’s dress to sell en masse.
“It’s not right for the brand, for sustainability which Mary is so passionate or the people who bought it as something special to them if there are suddenly thousands of the same thing out walking the streets,” she explains.
Before she became a princess, Mary once said that she was a “T-shirt and shorts girl, known to go barefoot”. Now that she is a Queen, does Lia feel there could be another big style transformation in store for her?
“It’s a good question, now that she is Queen of Denmark does that mean she needs to give up on her heritage and just promote clothing from her country?” Lia ponders. “But I think that she will still continue to wear dresses from Australia if she feels they are right for the occasion and that she is happy to give that support to Australian brands. And we couldn’t ask for a better ambassador when it comes to Australian fashion.”
Shop Moss & Spy’s beautiful range via David Jones here.
