Soon after With Love, Meghan debuted, Women’s Wear Daily noted that WLM-watchers were hunting down fashion IDs on practically everything the Duchess of Sussex wore on the show. Without even identifying what she wore, Meghan gave millions of dollars worth of “value” to various brands, who all felt the “Meghan Effect.” It’s been the same for years, basically ever since 2017. People are obsessed with Meghan’s style and whatever she wears sells out. Now the Wall Street Journal is doing a deeper dive into how Meghan’s fashion choices on WLM – not to mention her new ShopMy page – are bringing huge sales to every brand featured.
Meghan’s WLM fashion: What’s not up for debate is Markle’s fashion-selling power. Her breezy Ulla Johnson dresses, Sézane button-down shirts, muted J.Crew vests and Jenni Kayne cashmere sweaters are just some of the items from her TV wardrobe that are now sold out and accruing wait lists. Both aspirational and laid-back, her style is a commercial force.
A league of her own: “She is in a league of her own,” said Lyndie Benson, founder and CEO of the luxury-basics brand Bleusalt, which sold over 300 T-shirts in one day after Markle wore one on the show.
People are even obsessed with Meghan’s manicure: Netflix viewers have been flooding websites and Instagram accounts dedicated to Markle’s fashion and beauty in search of product credits. They pay attention to details as minute as Markle’s manicure. “I go back and forth on whether I want longer nails or shorter nails, and then I see her and I’m like, ‘Should I go back to shorter nails?’” said Alexandra McCormick, a beauty brand director in Los Angeles. “She has this effortless yet put-together look.” McCormick, 41, said she has friends in London who dislike Markle out of allegiance to the royal family yet still take style directives from her. “They are like, ‘Meghan can’t do anything right. Also, I just bought her sweater!’”
WSJ just throws this in: After several TV ideas were canceled or rejected, and the couple ended a podcasting deal with Spotify, people familiar with Harry and Meghan’s projects told The Wall Street Journal that Netflix was unlikely to renew its contract, which expires this year.
Expect more on Meghan’s ShopMy page: Following a flood of interest in Markle’s wardrobe and fan nostalgia for her pre-royal lifestyle blog, The Tig, the duchess started a ShopMy page on Monday, where she can make affiliate revenue from product recommendations. A spokesman said that the page has more to come, including beauty, fashion, kids and home products. Her fashion fans will likely be pleased to hear this.
Something for everyone: Andrea Gillespie, a 44-year-old real estate publicist in Lake Forest, Ill., she said she combed the web in search of a pair of white Aquazzura sneakers she saw Markle wear recently. “I’m surprised we’re all left to our internet sleuthing to find this stuff,” she said. As Ever, Markle’s yet-to-be-launched line of teas and preserves, “is not scratching my purchasing itch,” Gillespie said, “but all this other stuff is.”
The Meghan Effect: Brands are feeling the Meghan Effect. New York fashion brand La Ligne saw a pair of its jeans sell out within a few days of Markle wearing them on the show, said co-founder and CEO Molly Howard. The brand had sent the jeans to Markle, Howard said, and after the episode dropped, the company sold over 500 pairs of the pants in about two weeks. A pair of $40 clogs Markle wore during an episode where she feeds her chicken sold out online in most women’s sizes, and searches for the shoes on the Crocs website increased by 70%, compared to last month, a company spokesperson said. A $395 striped beige sweater from Jenni Kayne has been around since July of 2023, but it sold out this month after Markle draped it over her shoulders on the show, according to Lauren Anderson, the label’s vice president of brand and creative. Over 1,000 people signed up to join the wait list for the $950 Ulla Johnson blue dress Markle wears in her show’s promo image, according to a brand spokeswoman.
Le Creuset is seeing a huge bump too: Viewers are also buying the home goods Markle uses in her show, said Amanda Dishaw, who runs the Markle style archive Meghan’s Mirror. Within the last two weeks, Dishaw has sold 306 Le Creuset enamel dishes in the cream color Markle uses, as well as 187 glass Crate & Barrel bowls that Markle uses to make yogurt parfait.
Peppered within this WSJ piece are quotes from women who hunted down IDs on various pieces Meghan wore, only to find out that the pieces were all sold out. Like, it’s apparently a pretty universal experience. Which is why Meghan’s ShopMy page is such a great idea, and I’m so pleased that she’ll be adding more to it (she already added some beauty stuff yesterday). I wonder if there are additional ways to monetize this extreme interest in everything Meghan wears? Capsule collections associated with WLM, or loose-but-lucrative brand ambassadorships, something. It feels like Meghan is still leaving money on the table, I’m just saying! Also: “people familiar with Harry and Meghan’s projects told The Wall Street Journal that Netflix was unlikely to renew its contract, which expires this year.” Yeah, that’s totally why Ted Sarandos backed up the Sussexes and invested in Meghan’s As Ever brand. Because Netflix doesn’t see a future with the woman who can sell out any article of clothing and any homeware item. Netflix is going to say “no thanks” to all of that!
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
