5 Australian Designers Meghan Markle Loves

With the Royal Tour of Australia coming up shortly, the question on many fashion watchers lips isn’t so much what the Duchess of Sussex will be up to in Australia, but rather what she’ll be wearing while doing it.

There are, of course, the standard big-name bets for Australian designers that Meghan could break out during her tour down under. Think only of labels like Zimmermann, whose designs are an international staple for stylish women. They’re likely our top contender for what Meghan will wear this coming tour, and our stylists took a peek through their Fall 2018 collection to share looks they’d love to see on Meghan.

But what about smaller, lesser known labels that Meghan might turn to? Luckily for us, Meghan Markle did go on record with some of her favourite Australian brands in 2016 to Xueller, sharing:

“I love Bec & Bridge,Maurie and Eve (so so chic!), and Ellery. I also absolutely love the grandeur of the designs by Maticevski. And for little bits and bobs, I can always find something nice online at Coco and Lola.”

We thought it would be fun to look at the labels Meghan Markle said were her Aussie favourites in order to speculate if we we might see them on the Royal Tour.

Bec & Bridge

An Australian staple, you can definitely see why Meghan favours the designer’s clean lines and neutral palette. We love the Silver Palms Midi Dress (far right) as our top pick. Would be perfect for a casual day event, and could be perfect into evening with the addition of a blazer.

Maurie and Eve

Named after designer Kelly Davies-Green’s grandparents who passed away tragically – and left her a sewing machine – this Australian line exudes elegance and sophistication mixed with a streetwear twist. While many of the pieces are tailored for the beach versus a royal event, we could see Meghan pull a piece out for a casual event. We’d love to see her in the brand’s Higher Love dress (in white, far left and in navy, second from right)

Ellery

It was perhaps the brand’s ethos statement that most drew Meghan to this luxury Australian brand: “ELLERY empowers women through design with a decisive and avant-garde aesthetic.” The silhouettes from the brand are architectural and bold, and would make quite a decisive statement about Meghan’s dedication to both fashion and the empowerment message this brand stands behind. We’d love to see her in the brand’s Limoges Halter top – a perfect way to add a little pop of colour into the mix.

Maticevski

Toni Maticevski, the designer behind the namesake brand, has a line of exquisite fashion selections all combining a vision of feminine desire and artful silhouette that are at once recognised for his signature manipulation of cloth as sculpture. Minimal designs combine tradition with future and elegance with avant-garde. We can definitely see why Meghan loves this brand. We think she’d look amazing in any of the items from the brand’s Pre-Fall or Autumn 2018 collections, but especially can see the Le Jour Gown as an artful selection for an evening jaw-dropping dress for the Duchess of Sussex.

Coco and Lola

While not a designer technically, Coco and Lola is a renowned fashion boutique in Perth known for being timeless and feminine. Showcasing both International and Australian designers, the store carefully handpicks every item and also works closely with labels to create designs available exclusively to Coco and Lola. We can see Meghan browsing the shop and picking out an item like the Camilla and Marc Dimmer blazer (center) especially since she has worn the brand’s Marguerite blazer before.

Meghan’s Mirror Wildcard Pick

And a complete wildcard pick Meghan could chose for the Royal Visit Australia? Although she shut down her business in 2013, Australian designer Collette Dinnigan would be an interesting choice. Collette’s French-inspired dresses & designs were right up Meghan’s style alley. A vintage selection from the designer (who was named Officer of the Order of Australia on the Queen’s Birthday in 2017) would keep fashion reporters like us on our toes!

Some vintage Collette Dinnigan pieces we love – that are available at various luxury resale sites:

We’d love to hear some of your thoughts on what Meghan might wear while she is on her first Royal Tour. Any style predictions? Things you’d like to see?

Don’t forget… You can follow along with all things Royal Tour Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji on our dedicated Royal Visit page.