Meghan Markle hasn’t married into the British royal family — yet — but she’s already having an influential effect like one member: Kate Middleton. Much like the Duchess of Cambridge and her infamous “Kate Effect” — which has caused websites to crash and items to quickly sell out — Prince Harry’s American girlfriend has also triggered a surge in sales for her favorite labels.
The USA Network actress is a fan of Sarah Flint's shoes Photo: Instagram/@meghanmarkle
The Suits star’s go-to shoe designer Sarah Flint chatted with HELLO! in New York City during a preview of her Moroccan-inspired Resort 2018 Collection about the “Meghan Effect” noting that there is “definitely” one that has had a profound impact on her brand. “I think it’s probably only going to grow. It’s so exciting,” Sarah shared.
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While the Hollywood star has been wearing Sarah Flint long before dating Princess Diana’s son, the NYC-based designer revealed that the demand for her shoes has grown since news of Meghan’s royal romance came to light. “Increase in sales definitely and of course we track our click throughs and stuff on websites. So a lot of increased website traffic in general,” Sarah admitted. One such shoe selling out is the label’s “Grear” sandal, which the actress recently wore in Austin during the ATX TV Festival. The designer, whose clients include Amal Clooney, said, “We sold out of a lot of the sizes of the brown ‘Grear.’ We just placed a reorder luckily, so we’re getting it back in.”
The brand's "Grear" sandal has seen an increase in sales thanks to Meghan Photo: Instagram/@meghanmarkle
Although Sarah has yet to meet Meghan in person, the Fashion Institute of Technology alum revealed that the calligrapher-turned-actress sends her personalized cards. “She sends thank you notes though. Like handwritten thank you notes for all her shoes, which is really nice,” the creative director said, while admitting that she and the TV star also “email back and forth.” “It’s just been an email relationship so far, but I’d love to have her into the showroom.”
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Sarah is a fan of Meghan’s style, which she called “kind of funky. “She’s got like a cool twist to her style which I like,” the designer explained. “[Meghan’s] very chic. I also like that she doesn’t only wear like 100 mm heels. She wears a lot of cute flats and sometimes she wears our 85 mm heels, which is nice.”
Sarah also counts Amal Clooney as one of her clients Photo: Sarah Flint
The celebrity shoe designer is up to task should Harry’s girlfriend need a pair of shoes to walk down the aisle at a royal wedding. Sarah, who does a lot of bridal with her “Luisa” style, said, “I would want to design something custom for [Meghan].” As for whether she foresees herself continuing to work with Meghan, should she become a royal, Sarah confessed, “I hope so! I hope so. I don’t think she’s the kind of person that loses their friends when they, you know.”
For more on Sarah’s 2018 Resort Collection continue reading below:
HELLO: Tell us about your new collection."Well I went to Morocco in January so it is Moroccan-inspired. You’ll see like a lot of details in the heels. We did this mother of pearl covered heel with this pattern inspired by some architecture there that’s very cool. A lot with some materials, sort of a lot of graphic lines based on the tiling work and things like that."
Which is your go-to shoe for the summer? Is there a specific style?"So my current is probably the "Grear" sandal which is great and then the espadrille is going to be new for this collection so that's exciting. We brought our classic into an espadrille version which is like an update. And the "Bailey" is probably going to be my go-to for next summer I think."
When it’s time to put together your summer outfit, what are your essentials?"Hmm go-to summer outfit essentials. Well, I start with the shoes obviously [laughs] and I’m like a big summer dresses person. You don’t have to think. It's cool. Just throw them on. It’s easy."
