Evidence backs 'The Duchess Effect'
Kate Middleton wears a sapphire blue Issa dress to her official engagement announcement, and it sells out within days. Our point? They call it the Duchess Effect, and what Kate Middleton wears, matters. Take this case study.
Kate Middleton wears a sapphire blue Issa dress to her official engagement announcement, and it sells out within days.
She then wears a white Nanette dress by Reiss for her official engagement photo session, and the item flies off shelves, before the actual photos from the shoot are even released. After much deliberation, Reiss decides to re-release the product, and the coveted dress is sold at the rate of one per minute.
Our point? They call it the Duchess Effect, and what Kate Middleton wears, matters. Note the following case study.
Last week, Reiss reported that in 2011, the family-owned retailer's profits nearly doubled from £4.3 million to £8.5 million ($6.7 million to $13.2 million). In 2011, Middleton wore Reiss to three highly publicized events, including a camel-colored dress to meet President Obama and the stylish First Lady at Buckingham Palace. Coincidence?
Absolutely not.
Kate is partial to brands like Issa, Alexander McQueen and Reiss, and consistently wears pieces from this select group of retailers. Her brand loyalty has lead to considerable growth and future marketing opportunities for these fortuitous companies.
"You can't put in monetary terms what she's done for the brand," gushed Davis Reiss, founder of the retailer, to CBS in April. "It's been quite phenomenal."
Furthermore, it's not only dresses that spur profits. On New Year's Day, Kate stepped out in a Barbour jacket and leather-lined rain boots from Le Chameau. These companies and specifically, these products, are guaranteed to receive a high number of hits this week.
Meanwhile, we wonder what the Duchess will wear for her 30th birthday. It seems as if her sister Pippa and brother-in-law Harry are busy planning away for what may very well be, Kate's biggest birthday bash, ever.