Diet Prada recalls when Emilia Wickstead claimed Meghan Markle’s £135k Givenchy wedding dress resembled her £7k creation

In light of Givenchy’s art director Clare Waight Keller stepping down, Diet Prada couldn’t help but set the record straight one last time. Reposting via their Instagram stories the series of posts they had shared in 2018 in regards to Emilia Wickstead’s claim.

Who can forget the fairytale romance and just as dreamy wedding of Prince Harry and Duchess of Sussex, former actor Meghan Markle? Meghan looked ethereal, on her wedding day in 2018, in a beautiful Givenchy creation. The dress was created by British fashion designer Clare Waight Keller who, according to a statement given by the company on Friday, stepped down from her role as artistic director.

The 49-year-old designer became Givenchy’s artistic director in 2017, making her the first woman to land the position in the history of the company that is owned by French luxury house LVMH. In a statement released by Givenchy, Clare said, “As the first woman to be the artistic director of this legendary Maison, I feel honoured to have been given the opportunity to cherish its legacy and bring it new life. Focusing on a world based on Haute Couture has been one of the highlights of my professional journey.”

Meghan’s dress first stirred controversy when one of Meghan’s favourite designers, Emilia Wickstead claimed to the Daily Mail that the Givenchy design which cost £135,000 (according to Harper’s Bazaar) resembled her own work that came at a price tag of £7000. In the 2018 interview, the New Zealand born fashion designer said, “Her dress is identical to one of our dresses. Apparently a lot of commentators were saying, ‘It’s an Emilia Wickstead dress’.” This got Emilia a lot of flak from those who thought she was accusing Givenchy of stealing her design, to which she responded with a statement on her Instagram, “I do not think that her wedding dress was a copy of any of our designs. I have the greatest respect for Clare Waight Keller and the House of Givenchy - a huge source of inspiration for me.”

However, Instagram’s original copyright watchdog Diet Prada, the inspiration behind Diet Sabya, showed Emilia that she too, has taken plenty of ‘inspiration’. The page posted a collage of a piece from Emilia’s Spring 2018 line alongside a Jacques Fath 1950s jacket. They captioned, “So, according to Emilia Wickstead...it’s apparently not possible for other designers to reference vintage archives (even of the legacy houses they’re employed by), but it’s totally cool for her to do so herself. Here, Wickstead swipes an ultra-specific box-pleated bust cupped brassiere/bow-adorned tailoring detail for her SS18 collection from a 1950s Jacques Fath look. Shall we say, lesson learned? Lol.”

And in light of Clare stepping down, Diet Prada couldn’t help but set the record straight one last time. Reposting via their Instagram stories the series of posts they had shared in 2018 in regards to Emilia Wickstead’s claim. The pictures were from the archives of Givenchy and the original inspiration behind Meghan Markle’s dress, they wrote, “Since Emilia Wickstead has gotten her knickers all in a twist over the supposed infringement of her groundbreaking design, here is yet another archival 1967 Givenchy wedding dress from the Chicago Museum that may have served as inspiration for Clare Waight Keller’s Givenchy design. Different construction with the seaming and a more traditional boatneck than Keller’s exaggerated version, but overall a strong resemblance with the relaxed trumpet silhouette vs. Wickstead’s A-line skirt and fully bare shoulders. Dieters, how do you feel about Wickstead going off on Markle/Givenchy? Personally did not expect someone at her level to try and make this historic moment about herself smh. Pro tip: don’t bite the hand that feeds you if you want to keep cashing those royal paychecks lol.”

Another earlier post clarified where the real inspiration must have come from. It read, “A more likely inspiration for Meghan Markle’s Givenchy wedding dress than the first google image result for “Givenchy Audrey Hepburn wedding dress” most news outlets rushed to report on lol... Hubert’s silk matelassé wedding dress, modeled by Audrey Hepburn in a 1964 issue of Vogue, was inspired by a set of silk and wool tapestries c1500 called “The Lady and the Unicorn”, housed at the Musee cluny in Paris. The set presents a meditation on earthly pleasures and courtly culture, offered through an allegory of the senses.”

Clare created the boat-necked dress that the Duchess of Sussex wore for her wedding and it featured a five-metre train and had flowers from all 53 Commonwealth countries embroidered on it. Clare has also worked for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Chloe and for Tom Ford at Gucci.

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