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Meghan Markle invests in a bag brand with only two employees

Meghan Markle invests in a bag brand with only two employees

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Meghan Markle is a minority shareholder in up-and-coming handbag brand Cesta Collective, she said in a new interview.

In conversation with The New York Times Following her recent visit to Colombia with Prince Harry, Meghan revealed that she spends a lot of time “Googling” fashion brands and carefully curating her wardrobe, spotlighting friends and lesser-known designers.

The interview is Meghan’s second this year and the first in which she talks about her style and approach to fashion since her 2022 Netflix docuseries. Harry and Meghan.

Cesta Collective specializes in woven bags made using a basket-weaving technique used by women artisans in Rwanda. The baskets are shipped to Italy, where they are made into handbags in limited quantities that are sold through the company’s e-commerce site.

Meghan Markle Cesta Handbag
Meghan Markle is seen in Bogotá, Colombia on August 15. In the inset, the Duchess carries a Cesta Collective handbag upon her arrival in Cartagena, Colombia on August 17.

Diego Cuevas/Getty Images/Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation

Cesta was founded by designers Erin Ryder and Courtney Fasciano. The pair remain the company’s only full-time employees and discovered they had a royal fan in Meghan when the Duchess wore one of their bags to a private dinner in 2023.

During her recent trip to Colombia, the Duchess carried a Cesta Panna shoulder bag upon arrival in Cartagena. The bag retails for $750.

The royal became the brand’s first outside investor sometime after her separation from the monarchy in 2020 and her move to the United States with Prince Harry.

“I spend a lot of time Googling and looking for brands,” Meghan told Just in an interview on Wednesday announcing her investment. “When people search for things online or read things, I try to find great new designers, especially in different territories.”

The Duchess’s passion for fashion is well known. Before her wedding, she ran a lifestyle blog called The Tig, where she regularly posted fashion articles.

After Meghan became engaged to Harry in 2017, she learned how much interest there was in her fashion when sales of a handbag brand she wore on one of her first engagements skyrocketed.

In the years that followed, she decided to use this to benefit her friends in the fashion world and brands that don’t get as much attention as she feels they deserve.

“When I know the world is on the spotlight and every detail of what I wear or don’t wear, I support designers that I have really good friendships with and smaller, up-and-coming brands that haven’t gotten the attention they deserve,” she said. “It’s one of the most impactful things I can do.”

Meghan Markle Cesta Handbag
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry arrive in Cartagena, Colombia on August 15. The Duchess carried a “Panna” shoulder bag by Cesta Collective, which retails for $750.

Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation

Newsweek has asked the Duchess’s representative for comment via email.

The interview also revealed that Meghan has invested in five to ten brands. At least one of them is the vegan coffee brand Clevr Blends.

Of her venture capital activities, Meghan said, “Investing in them helped prepare me for this chapter of investing in myself.”

The Duchess launched her own lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, earlier this year, but has not yet officially announced a product line.

James Crawford-Smith is NewsweekRoyal Reporter based in London. You can you can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III and Queen Camilla, William and Kate, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry or their family that you would like our expert royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.

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