Bengal woman designs dress for Queen Camilla, brooch for King Charles III

PTI, May 6, 2023, 12:10 PM IST

A woman fashion designer from a village in West Bengal’s Hooghly district has designed a dress for British Queen Camilla and a brooch for King Charles III and received a letter from the Royal family thanking her and inviting her to attend the coronation ceremony on Saturday.

Priyanka Mallick, the 29-year-old fashion designer, hopes that the king and the queen will wear the brooch and the dress respectively during the coronation to be held at Westminster Abbey in London.

“It was an incredible feeling when I came to know that the queen and the king appreciated my designs of the dress and brooch. When I received the letter of appreciation, I was thrilled. One email or letter from Buckingham Palace means a lot more to me,” Mallick told PTI.

Malick is a resident of Badinan village, some 12 km away from Singur railway station in Hooghly district. Though she has received the invitation to attend the coronation ceremony, she will not be there as her health would not permit her to do so.

“My doctors have advised me not to step out of home as I am not well,” she said.

She, however, may attend the function that will be organised on the occasion by the British Deputy High Commission in Kolkata on Saturday evening.

She had approached the representatives of the Royal family earlier and expressed her wish to design a dress for the Queen. She sent the design, and they liked it, following which she got the letter of appreciation.

On the flip side, Mallick said, nobody from the village congratulated her on her achievement as, probably, they are not aware of what it is.

Mallick, after completing her class XII from Singur Golapmohini Girls HS School, graduated in fashion design from Milan University in Italy through the online mode. She also completed her master’s from there. “I won the International Fashion Designer Marathon in Milan, Italy in 2019, Fashion Stylist of the Year in Milan, Italy in 2020, and the Real Super Women Award in India in 2022,” she claimed.

Mallik said her designs on the coronation special will be launched on the British government website also.