Designer House of Nonie Talks the Meghan Markle Effect After the Duchess Wore Her Pink Trench Dress

Earlier this week, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (opens in new tab) arrived in London for the Nelson Mandela Centenary Exhibition in London, and the world collectively swooned over the Duchess of Sussex’s latest wardrobe choice. A simple but stunning dusky pink, sleeveless trench (opens in new tab) that most of us would probably have swapped our grandma for, given the opportunity. Sorry, grandma.

Fashion lovers and royal family fans were in love with the look, but imagine how it must have felt to be the mastermind who’d created the gorgeous piece, when she saw it on the Duchess. Canadian designer Nina Kharey—founder of high fashion label House of Nonie—has revealed what it’s really like to be swept up in the Meghan Markle effect (opens in new tab).

Speaking to HELLO! (opens in new tab), Kharey described how she found out that Meghan had worn one of her designs when her publicist texted her in the early hours of the morning. At 6:45am on the other side of the world from Harry and Meghan’s appearance, she called the moment “unbelievable” and “really surreal”.

“My dad was in tears. I just started Googling right away and looking, and I was in awe of how she looked. She just looked so amazing in it.”

She also explained that Meghan’s close friend and stylist Jessica Mulroney has been a client for many years, and is probably the all-important link between House of Nonie and the Duchess.

As you can imagine, sales of the trench rocketed almost immediately. Kharey continued: “I finally not only get to prove it to the world that I'm worthy of attention and time, but in a way I also proved it to myself and my family. I have something! My Instagram has blown up, [and] my emails, and I can just imagine how the orders are looking at the moment!”

Room for one more order? That trench has got to be one of Meghan’s best looks to date.