Kate Middleton beats Meghan Markle to bag most powerful royal style influencer of the year title
Kate Middleton may have made some pretty questionable fashion choices in the recent past but the Duchess of Cambridge is still the top fashion influencer from the royal family. Reports suggest that Kate's sister-in-law Meghan Markle is quite hot at her heels in the second position.
As per a new report, it is being said that Duchess Kate is most likely to convince shoppers in the US to buy products by British brands. She is followed by Meghan in the second rank, with Prince Harry and William close behind in the third and fourth position.
The survey also found that Kate is the most liked UK "icon" in the US, followed by the Duke of Sussex and singer Adele, and following them closely in the fourth place is Meghan Markle, now the Duchess of Sussex. According to Brand Finance's British Luxury 2018 survey, it has been found that Kate wearing a certain product increases the desirability among 38 percent of US shoppers.
The same report said that, in the case of Meghan Markle, desirability improves by 35 percent, and Harry increases a brand's prospects by 32 percent.
This poll on the royal family comes after reports that a number of items worn by the Duchess of Sussex on her Royal Tour with Prince Harry in Australia were quickly sold out, which also includes the £89 & Other Stories polka dot dress she wore on Fraser Island. On the other hand, Kate's £159 Whistles dress, which she wore at a Kensington Palace reception last week, also sold out in no time.
The survey also found that both Kate and Meghan have some sort of a 'golden touch' when it comes to transforming the success of a brand. And one such brand identified in the report was Goat, a British fashion brand which has been highly worn by Kate on various occasions. The British label was also worn by Meghan at a Buckingham Palace garden party celebrating Prince Charles' 70th birthday, just days after her wedding in May.
Kalpa Shah, managing director of Goat, said: "The planets really did align for us when the Duchess of Sussex wore one of our dresses at Prince Charles’ birthday... all eyes were still on her. And people wanted to see the bride after the wedding, the impact for Goat was magnified simply because of the timing." She added: "We get an uplift straight away... [Kate and Meghan] have both been amazing at putting us on the radar of such a huge amount of people, because of their profile."
Commenting on the report, Alex Haigh, director of Brand Finance, said: "The monarchy is one of the most defining features of Brand Britain and the royal impact on the desirability of British luxury brands cannot be overstated. Endorsement by any royal, but particularly the Duchesses, is like the mythical golden touch and can transform a brand’s performance overnight."
