https://youtu.be/49C9pNaaWHg
The designer of the elegant wedding dress of Meghan Markle, British designer for Givenchy Claire Waight Keller, said that the Duchess of Sussex was “genuine and warm” and “an absolute joy” to work with.
In an interview with Agence France Presse, Clare Waight Keller, a British designer who last year became the first female artistic designer of Givenchy, also observed that Meghan was a strong woman who knew what she wanted.
“She is exactly what you see on TV. She’s just so genuine and warm and radiant, she’s just glowing. And she is a strong woman, she knows what she wants and it was really an absolute joy working with her,” she said.
Keller, who had also worked for fashion houses Pringle of Scotland and Chloe, said she met Markle earlier this year and the pair worked closely together on a design that Kensington Palace said “epitomizes a timeless minimal elegance”.
-Very collaborative-
“It was very collaborative, I think she had very much seen my work and knew what I did. I think she loved the fact that I was a British designer and working in a house such as Givenchy which has got its roots in a very classical, beautiful style of course, from the time of Hubert himself,” the British designer said.
Meghan Markle wore a boat-necked, sculpted white dress for her wedding to Prince Harry on Saturday, May 19, designed by Keller for French fashion house Givenchy.
The dress’ open bateau neckline frames Markle’s shoulders and emphasizes the slender sculpted waist of the dress.
The shape is achieved using just six seams, and the dress flows towards a train at the back, cushioned by an underskirt of triple silk organza.
The sleeves are slim and three-quarter length.
It is made of a pure white double bonded silk cady — a thick fabric — which has a soft matt lustre.
– The veil –
Made of silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers in silk threads and organza, the veil is five metres long and had to be held by two pageboys as Markle arrived.
It depicts the distinctive flora of each country in the Commonwealth, the 53-nation grouping for which Harry is an ambassador.
The embroidery took hundreds of hours to complete, with workers washing their hands every 30 minutes to keep the tulle and the threads pristine.
The veil also featured two flowers that are Markle’s personal favourites.
These are Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox), which grows in the grounds of Kensington Palace where the couple will live, and the California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), the state flower from Markle’s home state.
– Bridesmaids, page boys –
Waight Keller also designed the six bridesmaids’ ivory silk high-waisted dresses with puff sleeves and pleated skirts, hand finished with a silk ribbon tied at the back with a bow.
Their leather shoes were monogrammed with each bridesmaids’ initials and the wedding date.
The four pages wore a miniature version of the Blues and Royals frockcoats worn by Prince Harry and his brother and best man Prince William.
(with video and reports from Agence France-Presse)
