It’s no secret that Meghan Markle, now the Duchess of Sussex, has her own personal taste developed over years, but now the items that she likes are developing a following. Whether it’s her choices for beauty items or skin care, people want to emulate Markle. But it is a jewelry company from Montreal, Canada, that is really getting a boost from an unofficial royal endorsement from Markle.
Macleans reported that Meghan Markle was wearing jewelry from Maison Birks on her first public outing with Prince Harry at the Invictus Games in Toronto in 2017. She then wore their pieces for her engagement announcement, for the royal Christmas lunch with Queen Elizabeth, and at nearly almost every public appearance since.
In fact, Markle wore Maison Birks jewelry so often that magazines wondered whether the newly minted Duchess of Sussex would wear any of their pieces for her wedding. The star of the show for Markle’s jewelry was her vintage tiara, but Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, and her best friend, Jessica Mulroney, each wore pieces of the Maison Birks line that won’t be available until fall 2018.
Just from these mentions, Maison Birks got a huge boost, particularly in mentions on style pages, which is free advertising.
While Duchess Meghan has not given Maison Birks an official royal endorsement, she has done better by consistently wearing their product for public outings. Around the world, the company is getting shoutouts on everything from gossip pages to fashion blogs. Approval from the royal family is said to be gold and the kind of advertising that can’t be bought.
Royal watcher Patricia Treble said that Meghan has put Birks on the map.
“They’re the biggest brand in the world.”
On the day that the royal engagement was announced, Maison Birks got a 400 percent boost in online sales. The earrings Markle wore (just under $1,000) sold out almost immediately.
Eva Hartling, chief marketing officer and vice president of Maison Birks, says that Markle’s friend and fashion consultant, Jessica Mulroney, was the one who introduced the future duchess to the Montreal jewelry company.
“Meghan liked the line and purchased pieces.”
Pieces were also purchased for Markle’s mother and for others in the wedding party.
When Kate Middleton joined the royal family they called the bump given to certain goods worn by Middleton “the Kate effect.” Now magazines are talking about “the Markle effect” which is boosting sales in the U.K. and the United States to the tune of $212 million.
But unlike Meghan Markle’s former life as an actress where freebies were the norm, as part of the royal family, Markle must now pay for everything as not to give the wrong appearance. And Treble says Maison Birks needs to be careful because too much talking by the company can cause this kind of patronage to end as quickly as it started.
