A few days after the royal wedding, Vanessa Chilton got a panicky call from her website manager. The London jeweller’s site had been overrun with traffic since April 29. The technology guy assumed there were gremlins.
Chilton knew otherwise. Robinson Pelham, the jeweller she founded with Kate Pelham and Zoe Benyon 15 years ago, made Kate Middleton’s wedding earrings. As word trickled out that this small Pimlico business was responsible for the diamond oak leaf and acorn design, people started to search for the brand.
“Before the royal wedding, we got 500-700 hits a month. In the weekend after it we had 17,500 and by the Tuesday we had 27,000,” said Chilton.
Robinson Pelham is not alone in enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime fillip from the big event. Every brand that was showcased at the wedding was seen by a third of the world’s population on television. But none was more closely scrutinised than the dress.
The minute the bride stepped out of the hotel into a Rolls-Royce, Alexander McQueen became a household brand name. A host of other British brands, from the Goring hotel and Aston Martin to Nicki Macfarlane, who designed the bridesmaids’ dresses, are also basking in post-wedding bliss.
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But how much will British luxury brands benefit in the long term? And, how can they exploit their association with the most famous couple in the world without seeming crass?
The biggest opportunity lies with McQueen. Later this month, Middleton’s dress will go on display at Buckingham Palace. Thousands will flock to examine the lace gown and silk tulle veil but the big prize for McQueen goes beyond that.
As part of PPR, the French luxury goods conglomerate owned by François Pinault, it has enough financial fire-power to propel it from high fashion, accessible only to the super wealthy, to a billion-pound brand like Dior, which sells everything from clothes and perfume to watches and cosmetics.
Kim Winser, the former boss of Aquascutum and deputy chairman of the Middleton sisters’ footwear favourite French Sole, said: “As the brand develops, I’m sure they will consider all the usual brand extensions for its growing customer base. It would make good commercial sense and PPR is very professional in these areas with its other brands.”
Another British brand to benefit from the wedding stardust was the Goring hotel in Belgravia, central London. The Middletons chose the family-run five-star establishment as their crash pad for the week.
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David Morgan-Hewitt, managing director of the Goring, said: “Usually we get about 150,000 hits per month on our website. When it was announced that the family was staying with us we got 5m. People just wanted to see the place where the Middletons were staying.”
Some royal watchers, however, wanted to do more than snoop. Robinson Pelham had a huge demand for catalogues in the days after the wedding. “I think they want to frame them,” said Chilton. “It was a historical event and people want a part of it.” She also had an American client who commissioned a pair of earrings — in true Middleton-style their design was based on her newly minted family crest.
Amanda Wakeley, the fashion designer, was also deluged with requests for a suit that Middleton wore before the wedding. “We had requests from all over the world for the navy suit but it was a vintage and we wouldn’t do a re-run,” she said.
Alice Temperley, who designed the emerald gown Pippa Middleton wore to the wedding party, was also bombarded with demands for the dress the morning after the wedding. Again, it was a one-off, but the interest can only be good for Temperley’s brand.
In the same vein, Robinson Pelham will not do replicas of the wedding earrings. There is no need, however, as the surge of interest in the designer has been so great. Where once it took just a month to get a meeting for a commission, the waiting list is now more than six weeks. It is also planning a mini-show in America where interest has been huge.
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The Goring’s £5,000-a-night royal apartment on the top floor, where Middleton, her mother and sister stayed, is booked out for months.
The connection with the royals has been given a nod with the launch of a beach bar, where the cocktail menu is influenced by Basil’s Bar in Mustique, which has been patronised by the couple. Morgan-Hewitt insists the beach bar was in train long before the wedding.
“We are a slightly eccentric hotel and we like to do things a little differently,” he said. “The beach bar seemed like a good idea but since we opened it, it has rained every day.”
All good things must end, though. The Goring’s temporary bar will close at the end of the summer. The wedding dress will be packed away in October after two months on display.
As memories of the big day fade, the brands that were lucky enough to be associated with it cannot rest on their laurels.
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Roger Mather, finance director of Mulberry, said: “Catherine is a wonderful brand advocate for Britain, in the same way as Samantha Cameron. We are lucky to have such glamorous women supporting British fashion.”
All the brands need to do then is to keep making clothes and accessories that Middleton — and her glamorous little sister — will wear. Melvin Glapion, managing director of business intelligence at Kroll, said: “The wedding will have a long-term impact on the luxury sector if Kate and Pippa continue to be loyal followers of British brands. This will really help the likes of Burberry and Aquascutum stand out because anyone can get a film star to wear their couture.”