The Take: Meghan’s Midas touch
The royal-in-waiting IS SET to be a fashion INFLUENCER on an unprecedented scale – and boost the UK economy by £500 million
WE ALREADY KNEW Meghan Markle would be a different kind of royal, but a new report has shown the enormous power she wields in terms of cold hard cash. The Meghan Effect looks set to contribute £500m to the UK economy, not only in terms of tourism and monarchy merch, but also her influence in the fashion world.
According to estimates, she is poised to become the most powerful product-shifter in the monarchy’s history. The Meghan Effect has taken hold with such speed that any fashion item she wears sells out in the blink of an eye. When Kate Middleton wore a Preen dress on her Canadian tour last year, it sold out within 24 hours. When Meghan carried a bag by British label Strathberry last month, it sold out in 11 seconds.
That she is shifting product quicker than Kate is perhaps unusual – Harry is fifth in line to the throne, and Meghan is unlikely to ever be Queen. While Kate and Wills’ fairy-tale wedding renewed global interest in the royals on a level not seen since Diana, Meghan’s appeal goes beyond that. She’s cooler, more unconventional and more accessible. She’s not only the first Hollywood celebrity to be accepted into ‘the firm’, she is also divorced, mixed race and an active campaigner for women’s rights.
Of course, Kate still causes product to sell out. When she wore a nude Reiss dress last year, she crashed the website. But the Meghan effect is felt not only on high street buys, but also on more considered purchases. For women to spend £495 on a Strathberry bag immediately after Meghan has carried it proves her selling power. ‘ The general public love her,’ says Lizzy Bowring, catwalks director at trend forecasting service WGSN, ‘which makes her the one to watch for immediate street style copying and the subsequent impact at the cash register.’
And Meghan endorses far more designers than Kate, who has a very small brand stable that includes Reiss and LK Bennett, as well as Erdem, Jenny Packham and Alexander Mcqueen. But Meghan wears countless niche brands whose garments hover around the £300 mark. She is a duchess-to-be who wears jeans (Mother Denim) with a white shirt (Misha Nonoo). Camo jackets ( J Crew) and trainers (Reebok Classics) on Sundays. She wears brands no one has heard of, alongside stalwarts of the British high street, like M&S (a £45 black Autograph sweater that has since sold out twice). In other words, her wardrobe reflects that of the modern woman.
‘Meghan’s style is accessible and can be imitated in a way that other icons like Rihanna can’t,’ says David Lochhead, co-founder of Finlay & Co, the British sunglasses brand that has seen sales rise 1,000% since she wore its Percy frames in September. In fact, 73% of all sales since then have been for the Percy. ( The uplift is 10% when Rihanna wears a pair.) ‘ The Meghan effect is on a different level to anything we’ve seen before,’ he says.
Tabitha Simmons’ black Kiki boot has been reordered by Farfetch.com and Browns Fashion since Meghan prompted both retailers to sell out. And on the day she wore the Demellier Mini Venice bag in forest green, they saw an increase in website traffic of 2,000%. Demellier is a considered choice for the future royal. For every bag sold, they fund a set of vaccinations for children in developing countries. Meghan’s championing of labels that manufacture in the UK is also purposeful: during a recent outing in Cardiff, she wore a pair of £175 jeans from Hiut Denim Co, based in Wales.
Thrusting unknown brands into the spotlight is certainly a new tactic for a future royal. But it is more along the lines of how women shop today. Instagram is a brilliant resource for finding new, niche labels – who’s to say Meghan isn’t discovering her brands on there too (under a pseudonym, now she’s closed her official account down), like everyone else?
Of course, she is still a royal and these brands err on the side of classic. I’d love to see her wearing a billowy shirt by Palmer// Harding, or a shoe from Neous. Her championing of niche labels is admirable but, in aesthetics, many of them are ‘safe’.
There have already been subtle style changes. We have entered the phase of the bouncy blow-dry and long woollen belted coat – a look reminiscent of Kate. But it’s a teething process while Meghan becomes accustomed to official engagements. I’m certain that Meghan will look to break the mould of the royal wardrobe in the same way Diana and Princess Margaret did.
And so, speculation turns to who will design her wedding dress. Canadian-british Erdem’s name is oft-touted. ‘ We’ve also heard rumours of Victoria Beckham,’ says Bowring. What would really make a statement, however, is if she chose an unknown designer, catapulting them into the spotlight in the same way Diana did with her dress designer David Emanuel.
Whoever she chooses, it is sure to influence wedding dresses for years to come. Meghan is arguably more primed to continue the role of influencer than any other royal: her years spent on the red carpet and as a blogger and model make her the most qualified to continue to drive forwards the brands she endorses. If she continues to create insatiable demand globally for under-the-radar British designers. Here’s hoping.