Prince William is leading by example when it comes to his choice of accessories.
In Cape Town on Tuesday, the royal, who is in South Africa promoting his Earthshot Prize Awards, wore several ties from the sustainable brand, Wilmok.
“It’s an incredibly proud feeling, not only knowing that he continues to wear our ties, but that he showcases them to those around him,” Darryll Wilson, founder of the brand, tells PEOPLE. “It gives us so much hope and inspiration to keep pushing boundaries and forging paths yet to be created.”
William has been buying ties from the small independent Rome-based brand since 2022, and the royal seal of approval gave the company such a boost they went from having seven followers on X (formerly Twitter) to being inundated with requests from customers globally.
“It gives us so much hope and inspiration to keep pushing boundaries and forging paths yet to be created,” Wilson says.
GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/POOL/AFP via Getty
Sitting on a panel in Cape Town on Tuesday on the second day of his visit, William discussed the importance of investing in young people when it comes to environmental solutions, wearing a green tie with a white floral pattern — a collaboration between Wilmok and the US-based Circ, innovators in science-backed textile recycling and one of last year’s Earthshot finalists.
“Together we created a tie made from 100% lyocell, incorporating 40% recycled waste. This is the first time this has been done and we’re thrilled with the result!” says Wilson, adding that this particular design was made specifically for the Prince of Wales for the tour, although a similar design in a different fabric is available online.
Darryll Wilson
The collaboration was born from a comment William made at the London eco-summit in London in June, hosted by Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates. “He commented on how lovely Circ’s fabric was and told them that he was wearing a recycled fabric tie. So Circ reached out to me to see if were interested in a capsule collection.”
On Tuesday afternoon (following his wife, Kate Middleton’s lead), William swapped his tie for another design. Also by Wilmok, the blue and white design, which retails for $56 and is made from 100% recycled plastic, has become a firm favorite of the royal. When William first wore it in 2023 at an Earthshot event in Singapore, the designer said he cried tears of happiness.
The company, founded in 2019 from the fashion and marketing entrepreneur’s home in Rome has become a go-to for William who owns several designs. From Royal Ascot in June to the Earthshot tour in Singapore last year, the blue design (made from approximately 3.5 plastic bottles) even got admired by British designer Stella McCartney earlier this year.
In addition to this meaningful tie collection, William also brought a little piece of home with him on his four-day trip to South Africa. The royal dad has been wearing a homemade blue and green friendship bracelet made by Princess Charlotte that spells the word “Papa” in white beads.
Phil Noble – Pool/Getty
William was first seen wearing the accessory, reminiscent of those worn by Taylor Swift fans and traded at her concerts (of which he was a VIP guest at Wembley Stadium with Charlotte and Prince George on his birthday in June this year!) on Monday, when he met with more than 120 young leaders at the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Program.
