American Riviera Orchard: Meghan Markle’s new California-inspired lifestyle brand explained
Meghan Markle took many by surprise by launching a new lifestyle brand this month, complete with a social media page and a website.
The Duchess of Sussex’s newest venture, American Riviera Orchard, hit the internet on 14 March, and set tongues wagging with people trying to figure out what the brand will provide.
A new lifestyle and wellness platform
As of yet, the brand’s Instagram presence consists of nine grid posts that assemble the brand’s title, seemingly embroidered with gold-beige thread onto a cream cloth.
On Instagram Stories, a short video featured Meghan arranging white flowers in a jug, before mixing ingredients in the kitchen, as the song “I Wish You Love” by Nancy Wilson plays in the background.
The website is similarly elusive – so far, the homepage only shows the same logo image with a prompt for interested fans to sign up to the waiting list for further updates.
On social media, people have been speculating over what American Riviera Orchard will offer, and what this indicates for the next chapter of Meghan’s public persona.
Fans have guessed that American Riviera Orchard will be a lifestyle and wellness platform similar to Goop, established by Gwyneth Paltrow in 2008.
Having started as a newsletter, filled with the actor’s luxury recommendations, the brand is now worth a reported $250m (£196m).
What will American Riviera Orchard offer?
It is expected to offer everything from cosmetics and beauty products, to cookbooks, stationery, jams, nut butters, and pet-related items.
A trademark application previously obtained by Page Six Style linked the American Riviera Orchard brand name as a planned distributor for a broad variety of homewares and goods.
An alleged insider told the American publication: “She’s been working on this for over a year and it’s all the things that are close to her heart – all the things she’s passionate about.”
New details have since emerged in a trademark application extension obtained by the Mail Online, which expands the previous list.
The document shows that in addition to the exhaustive list of household goods, stationery, cookware, gardening implements, beverages, foods and condiments, American Riviera Orchard will also market: “Fragrance sachets; lavender sachets; non-medicated skin care preparations; bath and shower gels and salts…non-medicated hair preparations; bath soap; bar soap; non-medicated hand soaps; body creams; bath oil; body lotions; cosmetics [and] body oil.”
The new list also includes the sale of scented oils, air fragrance reed diffusers, fragrances, room fragrances, incense and non-medicated veterinary grooming preparations such as pet shampoo and conditioner.
Downloadable cookbooks and recipe books as well as printed copies from the Duchess will also be available.
A return to social media amid Royal health issues
When Meghan was a full-time actor, most known for her role as Rachel Zane in the legal drama Suits, she also had a blog, titled The Tig, on which she covered topics such as travel, fashion, beauty and self-love.
Meghan has been absent from online platforms for several years, beginning with the closure of her personal Instagram page in 2018 ahead of her marriage to Prince Harry.
As well as this, the couple’s joint Instagram page @SussexRoyal has not posted any new content since 31 March 2020, when they stepped away from their positions as senior royal family members.
Some have found the timing of Meghan’s launch particularly interesting, as it comes during a period of heightened scrutiny of the Princess and Prince of Wales.
Recently, Kate Middleton was diagnosed with cancer and has been subject to several internet theories over her absence from public life since the start of the year, and her editing of a photo with her children shared on Mother’s Day.
