The Meghan Markle & Friends Effect

30/05/2018

Prior, during and after the biggest event of the year, the Royal Wedding, the world was going crazy over what Meghan wore. Less well-known brands to the UK public, including Los Angeles- based label Mother Denim sold out their “Looker Love Gun” jeans a day after they were worn and traffic to the online site increased by 200 percent. Meghan’s white belted coat as worn at the announcement of her engagement to Prince Harry, by Canadian brand Line the Label, sold out within minutes and the interest caused their website to crash. It now seems it’s not just the “Meghan effect” which is promoting fashion brands.

On 19 May 2018, 23 million viewers in the UK alone tuned in to watch the happy couple tie the knot, and now it’s not just Meghan’s pieces the world wants, but her friends’ pieces too. According to the global fashion search engine, Lyst, 17,000 people from 65 countries were searching for a “yellow Stella McCartney dress”, similar to the dress worn by Amal Clooney on the big day.

This day allowed less known ready-to-wear brands to showcase their pieces to the world. The press have been reporting on labels including The Vampire’s Wife, as seen on BBC actress Charlotte Riley and Alessandra Rich who designed the navy and white polka dot dress seen on Suits actress Abigail Spencer.

This high demand for fashion pieces on a worldwide scale will be giving brand owners something to think about in reviewing the country by country protection in their trade mark and design portfolios. We know that the fashion industry is one attractive to counterfeiters, and a skinny portfolio in only a few countries could lead to headaches in the fight against unauthorised merchandise.