The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle returned to Sydney designer Karen Gee to feel “empowered” after her first public engagement, after her threads helped win over fans during her visit to Australia in 2018.
The last time Karen Gee dressed the Duchess of Sussex her internet crashed as fans clambered to buy the $1.800 “Blessed” dress she wore to wow crowds in the shadows of the Opera House on the first day of her royal visit to Sydney.
Fast forward eight years and Meghan Markle is back on Australian soil – and for her first public appearance with Prince Harry she returned to the Sydney designer to make a statement, this time choosing her ready to wear Priscilla dress designed to “empower” and defined as “an exercise in refined strength.”
Within seconds of the former Suits star parading the sculpted sleeveless silhouette, adored with gold buttons for distinction, a photograph of the exiled royal appeared on Gee’s website, stating” “As worn by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.”
Meghan Markle wore Sydney fashion designer Karen Gee’s Priscilla dress for her first public appearance in Australia in eight years as she and Prince Harry visited the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. Picture: Jonathan Brady
“We’ve sold a lot of the Priscilla dress today (Tuesday), the website hasn’t crashed, we’re better prepared this time, but the volume of traffic is heavy from Australia and North America,” Ms Gee said.
“Meghan is all about empowering women and that’s our motto, empowering women through our garments, the cut and fabric, it’s about making women feel good.
“Her team came to us and said Meghan was keen to wear Karen Gee again.
“We have kept in contact with the Duchess since she came to Sydney in 2018 and she believes in what we do. She wanted a dress that was simple, elegant, conservative and timeless.
“Our Blessed dress is still selling today – we’re grateful for her support.”
Described on the website as elegant yet assured, the Priscilla Dress is for women who favour structure, polish, and timeless design over trend.
Indeed actor turned princess turned entrepreneur appeared to make a bold statement in the $1,250 ensemble while pressing the fresh of adoring fans and talking to young cancer patients at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, one of the world’s leading centres for pediatric healthcare previously visited by the Duke’s late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and by his mother and father, the then, Prince and Princess of Wales.
The Sydney designer and mother of five, originally from Rockhampton in Queensland, built her brand from the ground up with no formal training, gaining recognition for dressing high-profile figures like the Duchess and Australian television presenter and business leaders, is often seen at her flagship store in Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building (QVB) in the Sydney CBD.
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