It was many years later that a synthetic purple dye was created by way of a serendipitous accident. In 1856 an 18-year-old English chemist, William Henry Perkins, mistakenly invented Perkin’s Purple, or the shade we recognize today as mauveine or mauve, which altered purple’s close relationship with all things superior. Perkins was at the time trying to find a cure for malaria by attempting to synthesize quinine in a laboratory. When cleaning up the solution he’d created with alcohol, he noticed he’d produced a dark purple liquid. This shade would go on to make him a fortune and revolutionize the world of fashion. The synthetic dye was far cheaper to produce than Tyrian, and therefore the production of mauve garments became widespread, particularly throughout London and Paris – showcased by Queen Victoria when she wore a Perkin’s Mauve gown to London’s Royal Exhibition of 1862.