THE MARKLE SPARKLE BRINGS MAVERICK MODERNITY TO ROYALTY —ANDA NEW TREND IN BRIDAL FASHION
The fashion industry is already calling it the “Meghan effect” or the “Markle sparkle” — the new Duchess of Sussex’s ability to sell out product across all price points, whether it be a Marks & Spencer jumper (45 British pounds sterling) or a handbag she carried by small Scottish label Strathberry (495 British pounds sterling): 11 minutes after she stepped out with the bag it sold out on the company website, and kept selling out whenever stocks were replenished.
And when she stepped on the world stage last Saturday, giving her hand to Prince Harry in St. George’s Chapel, the natural question on everybody’s mind was, whom did she pick to design her dress?
Since the radiant young Suits star had emerged as an exciting new style icon in the league of her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, many eligible names were bandied about, from Stella McCartney and Ralph & Russo to Erdem and relatively unknown Kiwi designer Emilia Wickstead.
But when Markle stepped out of Queen Elizabeth’s burgundy Mark IV Phantom Rolls-Royce, the American actress surprised everyone by picking a name that hadn’t even been in the running: Claire Waight Keller, a Britishborn designer notable for being the first woman to be appointed creative director of Givenchy.
“It is truly an honor to have been given the opportunity to closely collaborate with Meghan Markle on such a remark-
able occasion,” Keller told Vogue Paris. “We wanted to create a timeless piece that would emphasize the iconic codes of Givenchy with sleek lines and sharp cuts.”
Markle’s choice shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise, really, considering that the 36-year-old actress has brought a maverick modernity to the royal family. She’s a feminist who first demonstrated her activism at age 11, when she wrote letters to First Lady Hillary Clinton and various women in power about a soap manufacturer’s dishwashing ad that hinted that a woman’s place was in the kitchen. Her letters actually got the multinational company to change the wording in its ad to something more gender-equal.
The fact that Markle, who has also spoken out about the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, is biracial and a divorcee has brought a new inclusivity to the House of Windsor.
But her choice of dress for the wedding of the century spoke loudest of all. When Meghan finally emerged from the car to enter St. George’s Chapel, royal style watchers were torn between loving and loathing her gown’s unadorned simplicity. But a bridal dress bespeaks the wearer’s values: “I prefer simplicity. I value timelessness. Less is more. Less is modern. I’m not some unreachably chic fashion icon to be looked up to but an accessible woman of the people who cares.”
The modest-by-royal-standards 16foot veil bore the only elaborate detail, which turned out to be loaded with meaning. It was embroidered with the flowers of Britain’s 53 commonwealth states (of which Canada, where Markle lived for seven years, is one), and held in place by another modest-by-royal-standards tiara: Queen Mary’s diamond bandeau made in 1932.
The “iconic codes of Givenchy” Keller mentioned included the gown’s bateau or boat neckline Hubert de Givenchy created for another Hollywood actress, Audrey Hepburn in the movie Sabrina (so it’s now called the Sabrina neckline, natch).
Meghan is a big fan of the boat neck, and of showing skin not in an obvious way but rather, the subtle prettiness of her neck and shoulders. She’s sported a couple of boat-neck tops on her more casual days — one of them was a nautical J. Crew striped tee she wore to go to yoga. Costing a mere US$29.50 at the American retailer, it sold out instantly, as does everything the young actress wears.
Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton has the same effect: the capacity to move product worth a billion pounds to the British fashion industry. The new Duchess of Sussex is expected to do the same — perhaps even top her sister-inlaw because of her popularity in both Britain and America.
And that’s what was vividly on display last Saturday: a mixture of Americana and Britannia, modern and traditional, young and old. It’s safe to say Britain has never seen a royal wedding quite like this one: Harry and Meghan seemed determined to put their own stamp on the choice of music, guests (new British acting royalty like Idris Elba and James Corden, older pop royalty like Sir Elton John, American celebs like George Clooney and Oprah, plus sports bigwigs like David Beckham and Serena Williams), and a general vibe of youth. While the older royals seemed merely to endure the gospel brigade taking over this ceremony, at the altar, Meghan beamed while Harry grinned.
The wedding had its memorable moments, which we dutifully dote upon below.