This is what happens when Meghan wears your designs

'My dad was in tears'

(Image credit: Rex)

'My dad was in tears'

You don't need me to tell you that when Meghan Markle wears something, be it an M&S jumper or a Chloe handbag. But how do smaller brands and designers cope when they see a massive spike in sales after an official Royal outing?

Canadian designer Nina Kharey, behind the brand House of Nonie, experienced such a situation when Meghan wore one of her designs for an event to mark the 100th birthday of the late Nelson Mandela.

Nina had no idea the Duchess would wear the dusty pink sleeveless trench coat, until she woke up to her phone blowing up with texts.

She told Hello!, 'My dad was in tears. It was unbelievable; it was really surreal. I just started Googling right away and looking, and I was in awe of how she looked. She just looked so amazing it.'

Photo: Rex

But for the designer, it was much more than having a celebrity wearing her designs, it was the defining moment of her career, '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!'

And as you can imagine, sales have gone through the roof, with international customers trying to get hair hands on the coat.

Nina said, 'It’s just been crazy. I was telling my PR that I woke up with [my phone] battery at 100 per cent and by 9 am I had to plug it in because it was dying. My Instagram has blown up, [and] my emails, and I can just imagine how the orders are looking at the moment!'

The Meghan Markle effect isn't going away any time soon.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.