What Givenchy’s shakeup says about the Meghan Markle effect

Over the past several years, fashion brands big and small have enjoyed huge spikes in search, sales and social media followers whenever the Duchess of Sussex wears their designs. But for the star’s wedding dress designer Clare Waight Keller, who left her role as Givenchy’s artistic director in April after just three years at the …

Over the past several years, fashion brands big and small have enjoyed huge spikes in search, sales and social media followers whenever the Duchess of Sussex wears their designs.

But for the star’s wedding dress designer Clare Waight Keller, who left her role as Givenchy’s artistic director in April after just three years at the helm, it seems the Meghan Markle effect wasn’t quite enough.

Waight Keller became a household name in May 2018, when Markle married Prince Harry wearing a simple, classic white boatneck gown with three-quarter-length sleeves she had designed. At the time, she was only one year into her role at the iconic French fashion house beloved by Audrey Hepburn, and the first woman to ever serve as its artistic director.

Markle, 38, continued to support Waight Keller and her work after the royal wedding, wearing Givenchy for her first solo outing with the Queen, the 2018 Royal Ascot and the 2019 Endeavour Fund Awards, to name but a few.

In December 2018, the then-pregnant Duchess even made a surprise appearance at the British Fashion Awards to present Waight Keller, 49, with the Womenswear Designer of the Year awards, dressed in a black one-shoulder Givenchy gown that showed off her baby bump.

But while most royal fans loved Markle’s wedding dress, it seems the buzz surrounding the brand didn’t translate into sales. The New York Times recently called her collections “erratic,” explaining that “though her couture telegraphed a rigorous elegance that bridged heritage and modernity … she struggled to give her ready-to-wear a signature.”

While Waight Keller’s exorbitantly expensive couture was praised by many fashion critics, the Times added, “critical brand introductions for the house in the accessibly priced category — sneakers and sweatshirts — were met with lukewarm reception when compared to rival houses like Dior or Gucci.”

Despite the fact that Markle has driven her fans to buy everything from under-$50 H&M dresses to four-figure looks by Victoria Beckham, then, it seems her followers may not have been moved (or, more likely, financially able) to splash out thousands of dollars on Givenchy goods.

But that hasn’t hurt the bond between the Duchess and her favorite designer; Waight Keller recently opened up on Instagram about their “incredibly beautiful relationship of trust and intimacy,” and praised the Sussexes for being “incredibly inclusive, genuine and generous.”

So while we may not see Markle starring in a Givenchy campaign anytime soon, and Waight Keller has not yet announced her next move, don’t count out the possibility of a future collaboration between the pair.

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