The Duchess of Sussex knows her influence. The Hollywood actress turned royal has long been known not only for her official duties, charitable endeavours, and female empowerment projects, but also for her sophisticated, modern style.
The focus on Meghan’s wardrobe understandably skyrocketed when she married into the British royal family, and her thoughtful choices have certainly not gone unnoticed. When she and husband Prince Harry were still senior working royals, Meghan regularly found ways to pay homage to his late mother, Princess Diana, with her ensembles (something she has continued to do since). And when Harry’s beloved grandmother Queen Elizabeth II died, Meghan did the same, wearing a pair of pearl-and-diamond earrings gifted to her by the late monarch to the procession of the queen’s coffin.
As a former resident of Canada and current resident of Montecito, California, Meghan also tends to wear pieces from local designers. And, on her latest international trips with Harry, she’s been sure to continue this tradition. During the couple’s recent four-day visit to Colombia, for example, she wore local designer Johanna Ortiz.
In a new, rare interview with The New York Times, Meghan addressed her approach to dressing since becoming a duchess, saying that she tries to use her reach and influence to highlight brands and designers she believes in.
As she explained, the moment she realised she could sell out a product immediately after wearing it, it “changed everything in terms of how I then looked at putting an outfit together.”
“Times where I know there is a global spotlight, and attention will be given to each detail of what I may or may not be wearing, then I support designers that I have really great friendships with, and smaller, up-and-coming brands that haven’t gotten the attention that they should be getting,” Meghan said. “That’s one of the most powerful things that I’m able to do, and that’s simply wearing, like, an earring.”
In 2020, Meghan decided to begin investing in a small portfolio of female-run companies. Her repertoire has grown since, and her most recent addition is Cesta Collective, a small brand that sells basket bags handwoven by a collective of female artisans in Rwanda and finished in Italy.
Meghan said she discovered the brand while online shopping. “I spend a lot of time just Googling, looking for brands,” she told the Times. “When people are online looking for things or reading things, I’m trying to find great new designers, especially in different territories.”
Backing these brands she feels close to, Meghan said, feels like a natural way for her to build her own environment, especially as she gets ready to launch her own lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard. “Investing in them has helped me line up for this chapter where I’m investing in myself,” Meghan said.
She noted that she thinks of her investment portfolio as a “dolphin tank,” as opposed to a Shark Tank (the US version of Dragon’s Den which sees budding entrepreneurs make business presentations to a panel of five venture capitalists in hopes the VCs will invest in them). She added, “These are friendly waters.”