Meghan Markle reveals latest business investment as American Riveria Orchard stalls

The Duchess of Sussex gave rare insight into how she’s spending her days as she announced a new business venture.

Meghan Markle revealed her next business move using her “global spotlight” to monetise the “Meghan effect”: Buying up little-known brands, wearing them on the red carpet, and capitalising on the ensuing sales boom.

After noticing a handbag she wore to dinner with Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow immediately sold out, the Duchess of Sussex became the first outside investor in a small company that weaves basket bags in Rwanda.

It was Ms Markle’s latest venture-capital investment in a portfolio of “five to 10” companies she now sees as her “Dolphin Tank”, like Shark Tank but in “friendly waters”.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, loves her handbags. Picture: Wire Image

“I spend a lot of time just Googling, looking for brands,” Ms Markle told The New York Times.
“When people are online looking for things or reading things, I’m trying to find great new designers, especially in different territories.”

In a rare interview from her Montecito home, the Duchess of Sussex told the “Fashion Chatter” column that she purchased a minority stake in the Cesta Collective after they immediately sold out of the bag she was photographed carrying alongside Ms Diaz and Ms Paltrow in 2023.

The Cesta bag Meghan carried in 2023 that sold out afterwards. Picture: Supplied

This Cesta design retails for $A1138. Supplied

Company founders Erin Ryder and Courtney Weinblatt Fasciano said the impact, which has become known as the Meghan effect, was immediate.

“All of a sudden, this one style that had been a little bit sleepy was totally sold through, and we were getting a lot of ‘back in stock’ sign-ups,” Ms Ryder said.

“We knew there had to be some reason that these were selling so quickly, so Courtney did some internet sleuthing to find out. We had more sales in one day than we’ve ever had.”

The company has an annual revenue of about $A1.5 million, but Ms Markle’s investment will see the Cesta Collective expand into other product categories.

Ms Markle’s interview, given after she returned to California from a tour of Colombia, comes amid reports her own brand, American Riveria Orchid, has struggled to launch.

The business was announced in March with its first product, jam, sent to influencer friends ahead of an expected rollout.

But five months later, Ms Markle has reportedly not yet appointed a CEO as copyright disputes, trademark setbacks and bureaucratic red tape delay the lifestyle brand from coming to market.

The first of her investments was in Clevr Blends, a vegan coffee company in 2020, and she now has a portfolio of between five to 10 companies, she told the Times.

The “Meghan effect” sees brands worn by the Duchess almost immediately sell out. Picture; Supplied(Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation)

“Investing in them has helped me line up for this chapter where I’m investing in myself,” she said.

Seeds of the business idea were first planted in 2017 after her engagement to Prince Harry, when a bag from Scottish brand Strathberry sold out online 11 minutes after Ms Markle was seen with it.

It “changed everything” in how she dressed in public.

“Times where I know there is a global spotlight, and attention will be given to each detail of what I may or may not be wearing, then I support designers that I have really great friendships with, and smaller, up-and-coming brands that haven’t gotten the attention that they should be getting,” she said.

“That’s one of the most powerful things that I’m able to do, and that’s simply wearing, like, an earring.”