Kate Middleton in Scarborough on November 3, 2022.Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage
Kate Middleton’s latest go-to bag has both style and a feel-good factor.
“Kate always looks so stunning and polished. I loved the all-camel look, it was so beautiful, timeless and understated,” Mireia Llusia-Lindh, founder and designer of DeMellier, tells PEOPLE. “It’s such a huge honor, I cannot emphasize enough what amazing ambassadors they are for Britain as a country and for British brands like ours.”
Kate Middleton in Scarborough on November 3, 2022.Karwai Tang/WireImage
“I wanted to give back as part of the ethos of the brand and it was hard to choose a charity, but as a mother of three, I felt that children dying from preventable causes was beyond heartbreaking,” says the Spanish-born designer, whose parents supported the charity when she was growing up.
To date, the brand has funded the equivalent of 350,000 vaccines and medical treatments.
“Beyond selling beautiful handbags and empowering women, we also are contributing to a greater good and that’s something that everyone in the team really values strongly. It’s very rewarding and very important to myself and the whole team — we do it because we believe in it,” she says.
Last week’s royal outing was not the first time that Kate has been spotted wearing the $395 micro-bag (which can also be worn as a cross-body bag). She wore it to the National Portrait Gallery last May and opted for the navy version on an official visit to Northern Ireland in October.
The Princess of Wales at The National Portrait Gallery - May 2021.PA
The brand got its first taste of royal fame when a newly-engagedMeghan Marklewore their Venice bag in dark greenon one of her first royal walkabouts alongsidePrince Harryin 2018. A year later, Camilla, nowQueen Camilla, purchased the same bag and it’s become one of her most-used styles. (Camilla enjoys the bag so much that she has it in multiple colors!)
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Meghan Markle with the same DeMellier bag.Getty (2)
Princess Beatriceis also a fan of the brand andZara Tindallchose one of their discreet black clutches for the funeral of the lateQueen Elizabethin September.
Llusia-Lindh declines to comment on which royal wearer causes the biggest crash to DeMellier’s newly-launched website. “I couldn’t say but every time there is a royal wearing a bag of ours, we see a strong impact,” she shares. “There are very few people in the world who have their reach and their life is dedicated to serving their country, which is why it’s such an honor for us.”
For Thursday’s event, which saw the royal couple launch a funding collaboration between The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Two Ridings Community Foundation to support young people’s mental health, Kate paired the bag with apair of $6 earringsfrom Accessorize, a fitted turtle neck dress and a wool mid-length camel coat from Max & Co.
Kate Middleton in Scarborough November 3, 2022.Chris Jackson/Getty Images
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“After two years we found a vegan leather and it’s made from apple waste, which is exciting!” Llusia-Lindh says.
With a cashmere knitwear collection that launched last year and talks of a standalone store at some point in the future, Llusia-Lindh says her focus is on staying true to the company’s core values.
“We will keep doing what we are doing, producing beautiful bags to make women smile while making a positive impact in the industry — hopefully that will take us far,” she says.
source: people.com
