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As a reality TV star turned duchess, Meghan Markle knows all too well that when she steps outside her Montecito home, the world is watching.
On Saturday evening, the Duchess of Sussex attended a literary event hosted by Oprah Winfrey at the new Godmothers bookstore in Summerland.
For the occasion, the mother of two looked sophisticated in a £315 black collared jumpsuit by Canadian fashion brand Club Monaco.
The brand has been a staple for Meghan over the years, after the Duchess developed a penchant for its pieces while still starring in Suits.
During her time as a royal, Meghan wore her dresses regularly (including her one-time Christmas at Sandringham and during her royal tour of South Africa), causing them to sell out online.
Pictured: Meghan Markle wore a £315 Club Monaco jumpsuit to a book event in Summland over the weekend.
As such, Meghan’s recent endorsement will no doubt be a lifeline for the brand, which had been through a tough few years before Covid hit.
After being sold by Ralph Lauren in 2021, Club Monaco is in the midst of a challenging rebrand and is now attempting to reposition itself as a more affordable alternative to The Row and Toteme.
Here FEMAIL delves into how Meghan is using her star power to save one of the most beloved brands.
Fighting in a competitive market
Club Monaco was founded by Canadian designers Joe Mimran and Alfred Sung in 1985, and the pair set out to create a “better foundation” for their customers.
The brand’s first store was in Toronto, where Meghan lived for six years while filming Suits, before expanding to the United States, Europe and Asia when it was purchased by the Ralph Lauren Corporation in 1999.
The following year, the brand launched its own home goods brand, Caban, which lasted only six years before Ralph Lauren cancelled it.
In the 2010s, the brand played with different types of shopping experiences to boost sales in its struggling retail spaces.
In 2013, the company was one of the first to convert a section of its store into a cafe to attract customers through the door.
Pictured: Meghan Markle wore this $329 Club Monaco Sinthea dress to a Suits script reading in 2017
Five years later, they collaborated with Hamptons hotel Ruschmeyer on a pop-up, and former CEO Francis Pierrel told Fast company that its e-commerce sales increased by 20 percent.
Ralph Lauren sells off suddenly after “losing a lot of money”
However, sales in stores were already beginning to decline, so the brand decided to combine menswear and womenswear in its stores.
Declining to give sales figures, Francis insisted: “This has increased the productivity of the stores.”
According The business of fashionAccording to sources close to the club, Club Monaco had been struggling in the years leading up to the pandemic and was “not well positioned to weather” the lockdown.
Pictured: A closed Club Monaco store in New York in April 2020 following the Covid-19 outbreak
Pictured: Meghan Markle wore a red velvet dress (under her tan coat) to attend her only Christmas at Sandringham in 2017.
In May 2021, Ralph Lauren Corporation suddenly announced that Club Monaco had been sold to private equity firm Regent for an undisclosed amount.
Patrice Louvet, CEO and President of Ralph Lauren Corporation, said in a statement: ‘For the past twenty-two years, Club Monaco has been an important and valued part of the Ralph Lauren family, and we are grateful for the many contributions the brand and its team have made to our company.
‘As we increase our focus on our core namesake brands, we want to ensure that the Club Monaco brand is also well positioned for long-term success.
“We are confident that Regent is the right home for Club Monaco to reach its full potential, as they will be able to leverage their strategic and operational expertise to continue Club Monaco’s growth.”
‘The designs are like those you would see in a casual and shabby corner’
Pictured: Meghan Markle wore the $220 Sallyet dress and Daylina coat by Club Monaco in London in November 2018
Following the sudden sale, Courtney O’Connor, Club Monaco’s new marketing director, hinted at the dire state of the brand’s finances in recent years.
Talking with Women’s clothing for everyday useShe explained: ‘For (Regent), the first year was about stabilising the business – they wanted to get it profitable again.
‘Club Monaco was losing a lot of money with Ralph Lauren. They wanted to make a profit within a year.’
That same year, the company closed its Vancouver flagship store after 25 years. According to Democracy of styleThe annual rent was a staggering $361,000 a year.
However, the Club Monaco team has had its work cut out for it after confusing customers for years.
Pictured: Meghan Markle wore her £400 Shoanah dress to Charlie van Straubenzee’s wedding, causing it to sell out within hours.
Neil Saunders, chief executive of GlobalData Retail, told Business of Fashion: “The brand is confusing. One minute it’s high-end and the next it’s something you’d see in a seedy, casual corner.”
In its recent rebrand, Club Monaco has sought to recall its golden era of elevated basics in the 1990s.
But as of March of this year, Jessica Ramirez, a senior research analyst at Jane Hali and Associates, says the brand remains as lost as ever.
The expert said: ‘It was a very nice brand when we knew there was quality, we knew there was design, we knew it was fashionable and the price was very appropriate for its position in the market.
“After the sale by Ralph Lauren, everything lost its essence. The design element is no longer there. The quality is no longer there.”
Meghan also wore the brand’s Dremah dress for her tour of South Africa in September 2019, where she introduced her son Archie to Desmond Tutu.
However, Courtney O’Connor says the brand is now placing a new emphasis on sourcing quality materials to compete with brands like Toteme and The Row.
Experts have also noted that the brand appears to draw inspiration from 1990s It Girl Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, who also appears to have influenced Meghan Markle’s style.
As the brand attempts to re-engage with its core customers, Meghan’s recent appearance in her £315 jumpsuit will no doubt be a welcome endorsement.
Discovering the sales boost the brand received as a result of wearing one of her pieces “changed everything in terms of how (Meghan) then viewed putting together an outfit.”
She explained to the NYT that when she knows there will be a ‘global spotlight’ on what she wears, she will ‘support designers that she has very good friendships with, and smaller, emerging brands that haven’t gotten the attention they should have.’
Following Meghan’s appearance at the bookstore, the jumpsuit sold out online.
In August 2018, the Duchess wore her £400 Shoanah dress to Charlie van Straubenzee’s wedding, causing it to sell out within hours.
At the time, the brand proudly wrote on Instagram: “The stunning Meghan Markle in our Shoanah dress at a wedding in Surrey, England today, which also happens to be her birthday. Wishing her love and lots of cake!”
Meghan also wore the brand’s Dremah dress for her tour of South Africa in September 2019, where she introduced her son Archie to Desmond Tutu.
