British designer Clare Waight Keller, the artistic director of French fashion house Givenchy, was chosen as the designer for Meghan Markle’s wedding dress.
After months of speculation and rumours that the bride would opt for a British fashion house, with Erdem and Ralph & Russo favourites on the list, the design house was revealed as Givenchy – the first time the house has designed a British royal wedding dress.
Clare Waight Keller has since spoken of the design process as collaborative. Uniting the new Duchess of Sussex’s preference for minimal, modern dresses with Givenchy’s impeccable tailoring, the dress was the perfect marriage of both Keller’s and Markle’s classic modern style.
Supremely elegant, the pure white gown framed the bride’s shoulders with a boat neckline which was complemented by a slightly wider silhouette and three-quarter-length sleeves. The haute couture wedding dress was paired with a monarch-length five-metre veil, a homage to the late Princess Diana, who wore an equally long train on her wedding day. The veil also featured a plethora of delicate embroidered flowers, including blooms from all the 53 countries in the British Commonwealth. The bride also wore a diamond bandeau-style tiara, lent by the Queen and once worn by Queen Mary. Her earrings and bracelet were made by Cartier.
Beautiful, timeless and understated, the dress’s bateau neckline, fluid structure and elegant tailoring were the perfect marriage of tradition and modernity.