When American actress Meghan Markle arrives at Windsor Castle on Saturday to marry Britain’s Prince Harry, all eyes will be on her wedding dress.
Speculation over what look the 36-year-old will choose and who will design the frock has mounted for months, with labels such as Ralph & Russo, Burberry and Stella McCartney among the names touted for the coveted role.
Markle’s sleek style has inspired fashion blogs and sent many dedicated followers shopping for the same looks.
In what fashionistas cite as the “Meghan effect”, her outfits and accessories have sold out fast soon after the bride-to-be is seen wearing them, propelling the labels behind them into the global spotlight.
Below are some of her popular looks from the last few months:
THE ENGAGEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT
When Prince Harry and Markle announced their engagement in November, the actress wore a wrap-up coast by Canadian brand Line the Label over a sleeveless dark green dress with a bow detail at the waist by Italian label P.A.R.O.S.H.
Royal fans and fashionistas caught the eye of the 434 euro ($510) dress in a television interview the couple gave that day and flocked to P.A.R.O.S.H.’s website to buy it.
The fitted frock, soon to be named the “Meghan” dress, sold out quickly, with P.A.R.O.S.H telling its followers on Instagram it was “working hard to restock it asap”. London wax museum Madame Tussauds has dressed its model of Markle in the same dress.
COATS
Markle, who starred in the television series “Suits”, has worn a variety of stylish coats since her engagement.
On a visit to the English city of Nottingham in December, she was dressed in the Elodie navy double breast wool coat by Canadian label Mackage. In March, she wore the brand’s sand-coloured MAI belted wool coat while in Northern Ireland.
Fashionistas were fast to visit the Mackage website on both occasions.
“When she was seen wearing the Elodie jacket our website had quadrupled in traffic, and when she wore the MAI (coat) our website saw five times the traffic,” Mackage designer duo Eran Elfassy and Elisa Dahan were quoted as saying by Grazia magazine on its website.
ACCESSORIES
Edinburgh-based label Strathberry has been catapulted into the limelight since Markle picked their handbags for two official engagements.
On the same visit to Nottingham when she wore the Mackage Elodie coat, Markle carried the 495 pound ($666) burgundy, navy and vanilla Strathberry Midi Tote.
A few months later, she accessorised a tartan print coat with a 395-pound green Strathberry East/West Mini bag on a visit to Edinburgh.
The Strathberry Midi Tote sold out “in minutes” while the East/West Mini in bottle green sold out “almost immediately”, company founders Guy and Leeanne Hundleby said.
“Immediately following the event in Nottingham we saw sales increase considerably (200-300 percent) which was fantastic,” they told Reuters in an email.
“Visitor numbers to the website were also amazing. At one stage they were up tenfold against our daily average ... We estimate sales this year will increase by up to 20 percent - 40 percent due to increased brand awareness.”