Princess Charlotte: an icon of Spanish children’s fashion

The stuffed dog that Britain’s Princess Charlotte is seen playing with in pictures recently released by her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, is already sold out.

But people were left wondering where Kate Middleton had bought the little outfit that the seven-month-old wore for the photo shoot.

The firm has warned that it only has enough fabric left to make 20 more of the little dresses

The mystery has now been solved, and it confirms the British royal’s fondness for Spanish baby clothes: the dress and jacket were purchased at M&H, a small clothing chain with five boutiques in Madrid, Valladolid, Seville and Valencia.

Months earlier, the newborn Charlotte had been seen wearing a baby outfit that was handmade in San Sebastián.

“It was one of our customers who walked in with the pictures and told us that that was our dress,” recalls Borja Echevarría, who owns M&H together with his mother and sister. The outfit was made in a small workshop in Barcelona and sells for €30.

But there is no official connection between the British royal house and the Valladolid-based company, explains Echevarría in a telephone conversation.

They figure the outfit may have been purchased in the Valladolid store by the Spanish nanny who works for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, María Teresa Turrión, or by one of her relatives. Turrión hails from nearby Palencia.

For Charlotte’s first public presentation in London, she wore a baby outfit from Irulea, a boutique in the Basque coastal city of San Sebastián, which was once a holiday destination for Spanish royalty.

The news has spread like wildfire among Spanish and British mothers, but Echevarría warned that they only have enough fabric left to make 20 more of the little dresses, and that for now they have no online store.

“We are so disconcerted, we don’t know what to do,” admits the owner, who says it is his mother who designs the clothes. “When the dresses sell out, that will be it, because we are already focusing on the collections for next season.”

English version by Susana Urra.