Meghan’s Midas Touch

[Twistybranch]

So Clare Keller who once designed for the likes of Gucci, Chloe, Givenchy is now at Uniqlo.

NYT has done an article on Clare, where Clare tries to make out that Clare wanted her stint at Givenchy to be a short one …sure Clare

Meghan has emailed in to say she got a few items from Clare’s Uniqlo collection. Bet she’s gutted she can’t get the designer togs anymore! But my god…Meghans hardly the person to call upon as a fashion ambassador.

But I’m thinking, 2017- April 2020, when she left Givenchy. Is a very short time for a head at an atelier. So it looks obvious she was let go or was ‘mutually agreed’ as the Sussex’s like to say.

But could it be, that her stand out garment from her time there, Meghans wedding dress, was her downfall?

Im sure on paper the dress looked gorgeous. Simple, elegant, clean lines. But with the bespoke duchess satin used, which was incredibly thick - it didnt lend itself to elegant sleeves or a fine fit. We also know from the flower girl dresses it was a rush job. Charlottes dress was shocking, with a hanging hemline etc.

The fit of some of the flower girl dresses and Meghan dress didn’t look good. This must have reflected on Givenchy and Clare. I’m guessing that’s why she left so soon with no job to go to and now is at a fast fashion label!

Her Trajectory seems the same as Meghans. Duchess to D list. Givenchy to Uniqlo.

So why on earth she got Meghan to write an email talking her up I don’t know. Working with her seems like the kiss of death!

https://archive.ph/lpnqP - for those that don’t have an NYT subscription

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/17/style/clare-waight-keller-uniqlo-givenchy.html

https://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2022/01/who-will-inherit-the-spencer-tiara.html

Great read.

Seems Di and her sisters wore it at their weddings.
Then Di wore it for loads of occassions.
Victoria Lockwood (1st wife) wore it at her wedding to Charles.
His next two wives didnt wear it.
His daughters didnt wear it at their weddings.
Apparently was lent to a niece recently for her wedding.
Will be inherited by his son Louis.

I wonder why the York sisters didn't wear the York tiara?

Thank you

I'm going down a tiara rabbit hole...

Why would they want that? Meghan sneered at her wedding and preferred to believe they were married in the back garden with no guests beforehand. Her first wedding was on a beach and very casual. She isn’t a fan of formality generally. Anyway, it’ll be up to Lili what sort of wedding she has. She won’t be married in the UK as part of the RF , I’d bet my bottom dollar.

I didn’t mean she would be married in the UK and I agree it should be up to her what sort of wedding she has. I don’t agree that Meghan wouldn’t want her daughter to have a large formal wedding if she did have any influence over it, however. Why, after all, have her parents inflicted the title of Princess on Lili if they are so in to informality? Don’t they both insist on being addressed by and using their titles all the time? Meghan only sneered at her wedding after they had left for America and when they were trying to sell their great “us against the horrid RF” love story. Aren’t they rumoured to have wanted to marry in one of the London cathedrals? Can’t get much more formal and grand than that 🤷‍♀️

Presumably because she is not a Spencer. Catherine didn't wear it either.

Absolutely correct . Harry himself said that they wanted to get married in either Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s but were told no . It was suggested they marry near Tetbury but they didn’t want that .
Apparently they were upset they weren’t allowed a red carpet .
Not the actions of someone who prefers informality !

Since Prince Charles had his 2nd marriage in the local Registry Office, Princess Anne a really quiet ceremony in Scotland - I'm quite sure had H&M really wanted a quiet, personal, informal wedding QEII and the rest of the RF would have fully understood and supported it.

No one but Meghan decided for her to wear a full length, formal, designer white dress or a full length white veil at her 2nd marriage.

IMO she absolutely craves the formality and grandeur of "Royal". What would she be without it? Her choices have always been traditional, none have been modern or independent.

Noone who values informality wears a couture white dress and a train length veil for their second marriage. This isn't someone being steamrollered by parents but a fully mature woman.

However, based on what we now know, I can well imagine Harry driving the requests for Westminster Abbey or St Pauls, because he wouldn't have wanted something "less" than William had, would he?

She isn’t a fan of formality generally.

Catherine on CBeebies Bedtime stories, hello I’m Catherine
Sophie on CBeebies Bedtime stories, hello I’m Sophie
Meghan reading her book The Bench, hello I’m Meghan The Duchess of Sussex.

Jil Sander was Jill Sander decades before Uniqlo came knocking. It is her name that did more for Uniqlo than vice versa.
Ines de la Fressange is rekown as a model muse from 1980s-1990s Chanel and French Icon. Of course, "designer" wise, Uniqlo has benefitted her "designer' career and bank balance.
But to imply that Uniqlo adds shine to a bonafide high fashion designer's brand (who has not got their own named high fashion brand or is not the head designer of one, having not retired from that part of the iindustry, but seemingly blackballed) after being head designer of at least two legacy fashion houses, is delusion from the pits of hell.
Ms Waller Wright has had an involuntary career demotion and works for Uniqlo to keep the lights on, not to expand upon a brand that exists for her anymore.

Pheobe Philo voluntarily has taken a sabbatical from the forefront if the industry after transforming Celine ( which has backslid in vision under Mr Slimane's "rock 'n' roll, "Keef and 'Nita" skinny scarf" myopic eye).
She is not out here designing clothes which do not represent an individual stamp (boring or not) for a fast fashion brand.
Ms W Wright fumbled her previously very secure bag behind Ms Markle's inability to see things through to a crossed T because she always has to be right.
Hence her looking decidedly scruffy, and not in a "so rich, I don't have to give a fuck" way at her wedding.

That Midas touch strikes again. A protest has been launched at the stent office over her ARO name.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14017151/amp/EDEN-CONFIDENTIAL-Meghan-Markle-real-jam-lifestyle-brand-name.html:

It comes in the uncompromising form of a protest lodged with the United States Patent and Trademark Office by a firm owning the trademark 'Royal Riviera'.
The owner, Harry & David, is an American institution, founded in 1934, with annual sales of £1.7billion and 3,300 staff.
The protest, deemed 'relevant' because of 'likelihood of confusion', has been referred to Marco Wright, the Trademark Office's Examining Attorney

She can’t keep the name now can she?

She already had issues with the patent office because it was using the name of a location and you can’t do that. Now this company is talking about ‘Royal Riveria’

The funny thing is, this company, is very well known and a bit posh. Their fruit baskets are very well known and pricey. So looks bad to piss them off as she would prob be trying to go after the same clientele. She can’t be selling jam with ARO when they sell fruit, biscuits etc and have a famous trademarked ‘royal riveria’ pear.

This is their site. Looks amazing

https://www.harryanddavid.com

If she had to change the name…..this is mega embarrassing. Maybe this is why it’s taking so long for the cooking show to come out.

I wonder if she could rename it to ARO, without it being an abbreviation.

Although at this point, it doesn't appear to have any legs to it, and it is a company that will always be associated with failure and incompetence.

Harry & David is a really well-known, reputable US company. I have friends who frequently receive holiday gift baskets from them. My friends love the baskets.

Honestly, she would be better off getting an online MBA degree that she can actually use to structure and run her company ran than ego tours to dangerous destinations.

Go Harry & David!

H&M ... Failure and incompetence ... there's a bit of a common denominator with these two 🤡

She's far too lazy to do an MBA ... unless you mean one of those ones you just purchase and do no work for ... but that wouldn't help her .... I doubt an MBA would help either considering she doesn't listen to anyone anyway

The baskets look amazing. Which we had them here.

So as an American, it’s likely she would have known about this company and their famous riviera pears?

That may be her only hope but at the same time, forever a reminder of how she messed up the name?

Any which way, it looks bad.

Which is perhaps Karma for launching it during the height of KateGate. They obviously weren’t ready but seized upon the worldwide attention Kate was getting, for clicks.

I'm not sure how much the name matters now, Thedom, beyond the indication it gives of a total lack of planning

It's becoming increasingly obvious that ARO's going nowhere, so it may become just one more initiative left behind like all the rest once what passes for her attention's moved on to something else

That said we don't know what the "something else" will be since we've not heard from her in a while, but doubtless more announcements will follow in time

I thought the precipitate launch was because a nasty British journalist was about to publish something about it?

Where's the Duke of Wellington when the Sussexes need him!?

I agree, I think ARO will just quietly disappear. They will try and pass it off as a brand exercise, testing markets etc.

Then try and launch with a completely different name, logo, style.

It’s the same with 40x40, where there wasn’t a full list of names. No follow up, No information about the women who benefitted from the idea. Just disappeared.

Also Pearl. The tv cartoon that was cancelled. At the time there was ‘shock’ and believed they could quietly shop it to others….no one ever picked that one up and that idea disappeared.

‘Meet me at the Lake’ and the ‘modern take’ of the Mrs Havisham story…..also disappeared.

'Where's the Duke of Wellington when the Sussexes need him!?'

I dont understand this comment - would you mind explaining please.