Meghan Markle’s Wedding Dress Designer Was Just Named One of Time’s Most Influential People
It appears designing Meghan Markle’s Givenchy wedding gown isn’t Clare Waight Keller’s only claim to fame.
While you probably recognize her as the style guru who designed the 37-year-old duchess’s boat neck dress, the 48-year-old fashion designer has also now landed a spot on Time’s list of The 100 Most Influential People of 2019.
The announcement is a huge honor for Keller, considering she’s named among the likes of Ariana Grande, Rami Malek, Sandra Oh, Chrissy Teigen, Regina King, Emilia Clarke, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Brie Larson, Glenn Close and Chip and Joanna Gaines.
In Keller’s Time 100 bio, actress Julianne Moore explained why she’s being pegged as one of the fashion industry’s most influential people. “Clare stood out because she learned the business so successfully and artfully, and because her clothes reflected the innately human and beautiful,” she wrote. “Clare’s simple wedding gown for Meghan Markle was exactly that—a reflection of the lovely and modern young woman who just happens to be a 21st century princess.”
The Gloria Bell star, 58, went on to praise Keller’s work ethic, adding, “We are drawn to Clare’s work because she doesn’t design from the outside in, she designs from the inside out. From the place of pinning clothes on a body.”
It was just a few months after she was named Givenchy’s first female artistic director of both couture and ready-to-wear that the fashion designer rose to stardom with the news that she designed Markle’s wedding dress.
Keller was first drawn to fashion when she was a child. In fact, she remembers trying (and failing) to hold still while her mom pinned clothes on her. She credits this with giving her the confidence to pursue a career in fashion. *Needle drop*
The Markle effect works in mysterious ways, amirite?
RELATED: Listen to ‘Royally Obsessed,’ the Podcast for People Who Love the Royal Family
