The Duchess of Sussex has launched an online shop, from which she gets a cut. Yes, she’s now a mother, wife, philanthropist, cook and stylist
Times are hard. Bills are soaring. Which of us hasn’t dreamed we had a little side hustle? Something that can make us money while we sleep?
If you’re a chronic over-purchaser, you may well have flung open your wardrobe and flogged its dusty dregs on Ebay or Vinted where, after 23 exasperated messages between you and 16-year-old Olivia P from Godalming, your Y2K Juicy Couture tracksuit may have netted you a modest sum. If you’re the Duchess of Sussex, however, your options are wider. You can fling open your wardrobe to the world, and make millions.
On Monday, Meghan Sussex (don’t get her name wrong, like Mindy Kaling did) took to her Instagram Stories to hard launch her latest venture – not another cookery show, thank merciful heaven, but a 32 piece edit of her personal wardrobe favourites, complete with shoppable links. Yes, she’s a mother, Duchess, wife, Duchess, actress, Duchess, philanthropist, Duchess and stylist now.
Which, to be fair, makes far more sense than being a cook. Whatever you think about Meghan, the fact remains that what she wears is highly coveted. Women want to copy her style. It’s why every wafty linen shirt she wears sells out, no matter how generic.
Meghan chose Polene’s Cyme Mini bag, £380 – the cult French brand is also loved by the Princess of Wales
Finally, her fans have an opportunity to shop said wafty linen shirt (Reformation’s ‘Andy’, £128), as well as a longer wafty linen shirt (Velvet’s ‘Nicole’, £250), wafty linen trousers (Brochu Walker’s ‘Aaron’, £395) and a wafty linen dress (Tracey James’ ‘Storie’, £270). You don’t have to be Anna Wintour to discern a theme here, and it’s not polyester. Linen for spring? Groundbreaking.
It’s easy to snark, but Meghan’s edit is no better or worse than that of any other influencer forced to make either part or all of their living by enticing others to shop their style. While it’s very Montecito-coded, you don’t have to live in California to covet – or wear – her style. It’s the quintessence of quiet luxury, a tasteful melange of oatmeal, chocolate brown and white, offset with notes of sky blue. British women might wear it on their annual Provencal holiday, toting a basket bag and eating whatever people who don’t eat carbs eat in lieu of a baguette.
Price wise, Meghan has been careful not to isolate those women who saw red at the astronomical costs involved in concocting some of the dishes featured in With Love, Meghan – whose ire is only now dying down, and may never fully be extinguished.
Somewhere between preparing the one-pan pasta and the rainbow fruit plate, Meghan confessed on the show that she had a ‘high-low’ approach to fashion, gesturing to her Zara trousers and her Loro Piana top as evidence. Wear a Loro Piana anything, and your approach is less ‘high-low’ than ‘astronomically high-low’. As label of choice for the wealthy elite, it makes Chanel look reasonable.
Meghan has chosen a toffee-coloured tote by Polene, the cult French brand that recently opened its first UK store, on London’s Regent Street.
Polene is a savvy choice: in terms of mid-range options, its bags are best in class. Her pick, the £380 Cyme Mini, is also beloved of Emily in Paris actress Lily Collins. The Princess of Wales, meanwhile, has been spotted toting Polene’s blue Numero Mini.
But mid-range isn’t as low as Meghan goes. She’s also included a classic beige trench coat by Uniqlo – more specifically, Uniqlo: C, a collection designed by Clare Waight Keller, whom fans may remember designed Meghan’s wedding dress, during her tenure as creative director of Givenchy. At £99, the coat is one of the cheaper items on the list. It’s also available in an inclusivity-pleasing seven sizes, from XXS – XXL.
And this is only the beginning. The more she sells, the more accurately she’ll be able to target what she’s selling, thus optimising her return. “A handpicked and curated collection of the things I love – I hope you enjoy them!” she trills on her ShopMy profile. “Please note, some products may contain commissionable links,” she adds, a phrase that will no doubt have the Princess of Wales chuckling into her chai latte, and royalists choking on theirs.
Will her deal with ShopMy rival her $100 million deal with Netflix? We’ll never know. Which is likely the beauty of it. Influencers typically take a 10% – 30% cut of sales, though whether the duchess is on a higher cut – again, we’ll never know.
As for whether Meghan is ‘bringing down the monarchy’, as has been claimed, well, a girl’s got to make a living. Particularly when she’s married to Prince Harry, fifth in line to the throne, who’s been defunded by his family, and has costs beyond the Erewhon grocery bill to foot. Such as round-the-clock security for his family. Good luck to her. To paraphrase the old adage: those who can, do. And those who can’t, hustle.
@lauracraik