When it was announced last November that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex) were getting married, the former actress overnight became one of the most successful hairdressers. looked at the world. And it's not just the future bride's dress that has sparked interest. Since then, all her outfits have been cataloged by the press, scrutinized by the public and imitated by women thirsting for sumptuous coats, checkered dresses and elegant suits.
And now that the couple has announced that it will wait for a child next spring, we can expect this interest to reach new heights, as observers point out: how the new generation glamorous Meghan, the newcomer glamor of the royal family, will she create the fashion of motherhood?
Meghan and Harry on their wedding day in May. Credit: Aaron Chown / Pool WPA / Getty Images
The pregnant form in haute couture
The question arises at an interesting time, when fashion seems to embrace the pregnant form and expand the definition of how the pregnant body can be presented. Last month, model Slick Woods appeared on Elle UK's October 2018 cover in a black bike shorts and polka dot top revealing the stomach, and was one of two fashion models to be paraded at Rihanna's Savage x Fenty lingerie show at New York Fashion Week. .
And fashionable women such as Beyoncé, Amal Clooney, Kim Kardashian and, of course, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, have shown that incubating a child does not mean giving up one's sense of style and embracing one's life. bland and sure embrace of the shapeless blouse. (Incidentally, this look was first popularized by a pregnant woman, Lucille Ball, who became the first woman to show her pregnancy on television in a controversial episode of "I Love Lucy" (1952).)
Slick Woods (center) is one of two pregnant models who participated in Rihanna's Savage x Fenty at New York Fashion Week. Credit: Brian Ach / Getty Images North America / Getty Images for Savage X Fenty
But while leading designers, including Dolce & Gabbana, Jean Paul Gaultier and Chanel, sent pregnant models into tailor-made haute couture ensembles (Comme des Garçons even gave models supermodels during their spring-summer parade 2019), maternity options on the fly remain limited and no major brand manufactures maternity clothing. "It can be argued that most women wear maternity clothing for a short time only and are therefore reluctant to invest.
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Beyoncé is pregnant with twins at the 59th Grammy Music Awards on February 12, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. Credit: VALERIE MACON / AFP / Getty Images
Customized to adapt
However, being both wealthy and a member of the royal family, Meghan will have no difficulty in finding options that fit her personal aesthetic, such as her famous sister-in-law, who still emulated Alexander McQueen, Erdem and Jenny Packham during her pregnancy.
But for Caryn Franklin, fashion and identity commentator, this reluctance of big brands to dress up the body of the expectant mother gives Meghan the opportunity to form a platform for emerging talents who are taking this market seriously.
"This is a great opportunity for Megan to showcase an emerging independent maternity business with daring and stylish creations during her working day in the last months of her pregnancy," Franklin said in a statement. email. Meghan could create new trends for pregnant women around the world.
The late Diana Princess of Wales photographed in 1984 while pregnant with Prince Harry. Credit: Anwar Hussein / Hulton Archives / Getty Images
After all, it's not uncommon for a future mother sufficiently shimmering to change the way pregnant women dress. In 1961, the New York Times wrote that Jackie Kennedy's "bright colors and elegant lines" during her pregnancy "did not go unnoticed by manufacturers or pregnant women," and in 1984, the Los Angeles Times reported that " The apparel industry was thrilled by the prospect of a boom in the sale of high fashion maternity clothes "when Princess Diana was pregnant with Prince Harry.
This effect also does not seem to have been mitigated in recent years: last month, eBay revealed that Catherine's maternal style during Prince Louis's pregnancy had generated more site research than any other royal this year. (Meghan came in second.)
There are only a few months left before the scheduled date of delivery, but there is probably a little time left before Meghan exchanges her straight outfits for something much more roomy.
"Given her penchant for clean lines and chic dark colors, she will keep it chic and fitted, with pieces that will flatter and give the bump a virtue," Helena Lee, director of reporting at Harper & #, predicts in an email. 39; s Bazaar.
But no matter how she chooses to dress, the whole world will watch her waiting to see Meghan's look adapt and evolve.
