Looks like Meghan Markle is next in line for the “Kate Effect.”
Everything Kate Middleton and her royal offspring touch turns to sold and her future sister-in-law already appears to be making a similar mark on fashion.
Markle wore a $750 winter white belted coat by Canadian brand Line the Label during her official engagement announcement to Prince Harry outside Kensington Palace on Monday and royally-obsessed shoppers caused the designer site to crash and bought out the handmade coat in minutes. The line is even renaming it “The Meghan” in honor of her engagement.
The American “Suits” star turned future British royal, who lived in Toronto before relocating to London, has been good to the Canadian brand. Markle previously donned a $295 khaki Line the Label trench for the Invictus Games that also immediately sold out.
That’s not the only line getting an early holiday boost from the bride-to-be. Markle’s engagement outfit included white strappy $730 Aquazzura heels that wrap around the ankles, which also sold out and a $585 dark green dress by Italian label p.a.r.o.s.h., which is still available. She topped it off with $780 18K gold Opal earrings from Birks and the jeweler reported a 50 percent bump in site traffic on Monday, WWD reported.
When Kate Middleton became engaged to Prince William in 2010, the $615 blue silk Issa London wrap dress she wore – which perfectly matched her blue sapphire engagement ring – became a sold-out global sensation. Jewelers were also called upon to create replicas of her 18-carat blue sapphire sparkler.
The Duchess of Cambridge remains the reigning queen of creating retail rushes. Analysts guess that she has a nearly $2 billion influence on the UK fashion industry alone, considering almost anything she wears sells out faster than you can say “Her Royal Highness.”
Her timeless high-low mix of designer and off-the-rack styles adds to her mass market appeal and her good taste in dressing Prince George and Princess Charlotte has also led to their adorable outfits selling out just as fast, including the $39 plush white bathrobe George wore to meet President Obama in 2016 and Charlotte’s $23 John Lewis pale yellow birthday cardigan printed with fluffy sheep earlier this year.