Clare Waight Keller—Designer of Meghan Markle’s 2018 Wedding Dress—Launches New Fashion Line

After news broke this week that Kate Middleton’s wedding dress designer Sarah Burton was leaving her post at Alexander McQueen, Meghan Markle’s wedding dress designer has some news of her own: Clare Waight Keller, who was with Givenchy at the time Meghan married Prince Harry in 2018, has launched a new fashion line (and it’s budget-friendly).

Waight Keller’s new line, Uniqlo: C, launched on Friday and, per People, items are as affordable as just $30. 

Part of an ongoing collaboration with the Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo, the 34-piece collection—“which includes the British designer’s spin on the brand’s signature quilted outerwear, floaty two-tone pleated maxi skirts, knitted vests, and cashmere jumpers, along with the brand’s first-ever shoe collection,” People writes—launched online and in 1,500 stores globally. Pieces range in price from $29.90 for accessories to $149.90 for outerwear, and the collection “fits in with Uniqlo’s casual androgynous look but with Waight Keller’s feminine touch,” People reports.

This marks Waight Keller’s first foray back into fashion since leaving Givenchy in 2020.

“I am honored to have been asked to create a new label for Uniqlo,” she said in a statement. “I have long appreciated its LifeWear design philosophy of technical innovation and functional authenticity. I have always admired the Japanese aesthetic of subtlety, simplicity, and detailed perfection, so to be able to work with the Uniqlo team to craft a new sensibility for my womenswear collection on such a global scale is a truly exciting opportunity.”

Waight Keller was approached by Meghan to design her wedding dress, and, of the experience, she told The Times “It was just the most incredible career-defining moment, one of the highest accolades. I was really happy to be representing what I felt to be a new chapter in the royal family.”

After Meghan began her role as Duchess of Sussex and became a working member of the royal family, she continued to work with Waight Keller, including wearing a cream wool cape dress design by Waight Keller on her first joint engagement with the late Queen Elizabeth back in 2018. “We worked together very closely, constantly talking through details and accessories,” Waight Keller told The Daily Telegraph. “I loved it—it wasn’t only building a relationship with someone but evolving their personal style.” 

In December 2018, Meghan presented Waight Keller with the British Designer of the Year award at the British Fashion Awards in London. “I got to know Meghan on such a personal level,” Waight Keller said at the time. “To have someone like that trust you in an incredible moment in their life is something that is just the most unbelievable honor.”

In early 2020, Meghan and Harry stepped back as working members of the royal family and relocated to the U.S., where “she is much freer now to be herself and I think she’s done a great job of working out a new image,” Waight Keller said. “It’s not easy for any woman entering the royal family. They have to express their own point of view, but also be extremely appropriate.”