Two years ago today, Givenchy’s creative director Claire Waight Keller was in final fittings for the most important dress she had ever designed.
The white gown, with an open bateau neckline and sculpted waist, was the one Meghan Markle would walk down the aisle of Windsor Castle wearing a month later.
Taking to Instagram today, Waight-Keller, who is preparing to depart her position at the helm of the French fashion house, describes the “many emotions” that were running through her in the months leading up to the big day.
“A wedding dress is one of the most exquisite and beautiful moments for a designer, but also personally as an woman artist, creator there is a lot of sensitivity that flows through the process from the knowledge and understanding of the feelings that you have as a bride,” says the British designer in the Instagram post. “In so many ways you are capturing dreams, that as a girl and as you become a woman you will have been thinking about for years.”
She reveals that “purity and simplicity” were Meghan’s guiding principles when it came to the design of the dress, which featured long sleeves and a long train, and was paired with a veil embroidered with flowers representing the 53 countries of the Commonwealth.
Waight Keller describes how “learning to let go of my emotions and embrace the feelings of someone you are designing for brings about an incredibly beautiful relationship of trust and intimacy. Through hours of conversation, meetings together, and research, slowly all the pieces of that story came together.
Describing how aware she was of the significance of the occasion, and the fact that Meghan and Prince Harry’s choices “would reflect both the bride and grooms heritage and their unique way of being incredibly inclusive, genuine and generous,” Waight Keller describes how she “subtly” brought the lines of Givenchy and the history of the Maison “to capture the classical timeless beauty” she knew Meghan wanted to achieve.
Waight Keller’s three-year tenure at Givenchy will be remembered for many sartorial successes, not least the creation of the dress of the decade, nay, the century.
