Princess Diana is still considered the biggest royal fashion influencer
When it comes to the royal family, the name on everyone’s lips is Prince Harry’s bride-to-be, Meghan Markle.
Despite the surge in interest for the former actress, a new study conducted by fashion retailer, Lyst, says Princess Diana is still the most powerful fashion influencer from the royal family.
The fashion search platform looked to gauge the style influence of British royal women from the past 100 years by studying current global fashion search data with historical insights.
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“At Lyst we’re used to looking into real time, reactive spikes in search and sales when a celebrity influencer wears a fashion brand,” says Charlotte Austin, Lyst’s editor. “While we’re seeing phenomenal spikes in demand for all things Meghan-endorsed right now, Diana’s lasting legacy as a trend setter and continual source of inspiration for generations of designers and fashion lovers makes The Diana Effect an incredibly powerful fashion force.
Austin says Lyst set out to study the “ripple effect” of fashion trends from royals throughout the years. The company believes Princess Diana influenced several long-lasting fashion trends, including what they call the “revenge dress.”
In 1994, Diana arrived to Vanity Fair’s Serpentine Gallery summer party wearing a black, off-the-shoulder silk dress by Christina Stambolian. The look was a huge departure for the normally modest princess, however Diana chose to wear the dress the same day a television documentary aired which revealed Prince Charles’s affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. The press had a field day and dubbed the little black dress the “revenge dress.”
Lyst says “little black dress” still remains one of their most popular search terms, with more than half a million searches per month.
Today, Markle is making her mark on the fashion world. After wearing her white coat from Line The Label for her engagement photocall, the item sold out in less than 12 hours.
That’s not the only “power coat” associated with Markle — her Burberry coat worn during her appearance with Prince Harry in Edinburgh saw a 120 per cent spike in sales within two days.
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