Do you know that the fabulous wedding dress worn by British Queen Elizabeth II, at her wedding with Prince Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947, was designed with Damask brocade fabric, one of the most popular and luxurious textiles worldwide.
The royal palace of Buckingham in the United Kingdom sent a special telegram to the Syrian embassy in London during the tenure of Syrian leader Shukri al-Quwatli to bring this unique cloth from the markets of Damascus and fulfil the queen’s wish.
The brocade fabric was brought from al-Muznar factory in Bab Sharqi neighbourhood in Damascus Old City and it had a drawing of “two love birds” exchanging kisses in a pattern known locally as “the lover and the beloved “and later it was called the” engraving of the Queen “, and it is famous for its white colour and interwoven with 12 karat gold threads with the drawing of bird wings.
Later, Fashion Designer Norman Hartnell turned the fabric into the wedding dress and it is now kept at the Royal Museum at Buckingham Palace.
Damascus is a candidate city to be on the UNESCO Creative Cities list for its handicrafts.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)