We finally have more details about when Meghan Markle’s lifestyle brand will officially launch.
The Duchess of Sussex, 42, announced the launch of her new lifestyle business, American Riviera Orchard, in March but did not say when its products would be available to the public.
But now, a new report suggests that Markle’s lifestyle line will officially launch later this year. While an exact date has not yet been announced, a source told People that the former Suits star “has been busy behind the scenes preparing.”
Amid rumours that the store opening was delayed due to Markle’s difficulties in finding a CEO for Riviera Orchards in the US and reports of high staff turnover – the Sussexes have lost at least six staff members since leaving the UK and moving to the US, including most recently Josh Ketterer, chief of staff to Markle and husband Prince Harry, who quit just three months into the job – the insider insisted there was no truth to the claims.
American Riviera Orchard, named at least in part after Meghan and Harry’s residence in Montecito on the Santa Barbara coastline, which is sometimes referred to as the “American Riviera,” will sell tableware, drinkware, kitchenware, jellies, jams, marmalades, spreads, cookbooks and other products, according to a trademark application filed by Markle’s attorneys.
The Duchess has previously worked in the lifestyle sector, having founded a lifestyle blog, The Tig (named after her favourite wine), in 2014. She closed the site in 2017 following her engagement to Prince Harry.
Since stepping down as a senior royal working member in January 2020, Markle has dabbled in some business endeavors, taking an interest in brands that she personally likes and whose values align with hers.
“I spend a lot of time Googling brands,” Meghan told The New York Times during a recent interview after her quasi-royal tour of Colombia.
“When people are looking for things or reading things online, I try to find great new designers, especially in different regions,” she explains.
The California native went on to say that she began to believe her support for lifestyle brands could have a positive impact after a bag from Scottish company Strathberry that she carried during a formal meeting with Prince Harry in 2017 sold out online in 11 minutes.
The significant growth in Strathberry’s sales has reportedly helped the brand expand its workforce.
Markle said that moment “completely changed the way I thought about putting together outfits.”
“When I know the world is watching me, I pay attention to every detail of what I wear or don’t wear, and then I support designers that I have a deep friendship with, and small emerging brands that haven’t gotten the attention they deserve,” she added. “That’s one of the most powerful things I can do, and that’s wearing earrings.”
The Duchess recently invested in a brand called Cesta Collective, which sells bags handwoven by a collective of Rwandan women and finished in Italy.
“Investing in them helped me prepare to invest in my own chapter,” she said of her minority stake in the company.
She describes her venture capital work as more of a “dolphin pool” than a “Shark Tank.”
“These are friendly waters,” she shared.