The black and white silk dress worn by Meghan Markle during her
bombshell Oprah interview is set to go display at the Fashion
Museum in Bath after being named the dress of the year by the
Museum.
In the biggest royal interview for decades, Meghan made claims about
racism within the royal family, saying members of the Firm were worried about
how ‘dark’ their child’s skin would be.
The Duchess of Sussex also claimed Kate Middleton made her cry before she married Harry in a
row over flower girl dresses, while Harry said his father Charles stopped
taking his calls after he began ‘taking matters into his own hands’.
Viewed by an estimated 60 million viewers across the world, it became one
of the defining pop-cultural moments of 2021, the highly anticipated two-hour
television interview aired in nearly 70 countries.
The Duchess wore a long, black triple silk georgette dress with deep
front, lotus flower embroidery and matching belt from Giorgio Armani’s
Spring/Summer 2022 Cruise Collection, which is still available to buy in the
US.
It’s well known that members of the Royal family often use outfits to
send a message through their choice of style, colour or motif.
Experts speculated the Duchess chose a dress with a lotus flower design
due to the flower’s symbolic association with rebirth, self-regeneration and
spiritual enlightenment, and its ability to flourish despite seemingly
challenging conditions.
Visitors to the Fashion Museum will soon be able to see a version of the
famous dress for themselves when it goes on display as the final item in the
headline exhibition, A History of Fashion in 100 Objects.
Each year, the Fashion Museum invites a top name from the fashion
industry to select a Dress of the Year that encapsulates the prevailing mood of
fashion, represents the past year, and captures the imagination.
This year’s selectors are Dazed magazine’s Ibrahim Kamara and Gareth
Wrighton. The pair’s Dress of Hope was selected as Dress of the Year 2020, and
they went on to have a monumental year, with Kamara appointed Editor-in-Chief
of Dazed and Wrighton appointed Art Director.
Kamara was also honoured at the 2021 British Fashion Awards, winning the
Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator.
Ibrahim Kamara and Gareth Wrighton said: ‘In today’s hyper-stylised pop
culture, the Dress of the Year now has the potential to also be ‘meme of the
year’ and we both latched upon Meghan and Harry’s now-iconic interview with
Oprah as the definitive anti-establishment moment that will forever endure in
the British collective consciousness.
‘Meghan’s wrap dress by Armani, worn to showcase a divine pregnancy,
framed the Duchess in black against the bountiful landscaping of Tyler Perry’s
Hollywood garden.
‘This look now, through sheer association with a viral television
moment, is firmly engrained in our pop culture psyche.’
Rosemary Harden, Fashion Museum Manager, said: ‘This is a fabulous
addition to the Fashion Museum collection. There are moments in history that
are all about the dress and Meghan’s interview with Oprah was just such an
occasion.
‘The softly structured Armani dress with beautiful appliquéd lotus
flower motif was part of a carefully curated look, guaranteed to send messages,
and to imprint itself in our consciousness time and time again.
‘Thank you to Ibrahim and Gareth for this landmark selection for the
Dress of the Year Collection, and to Armani for most generously gifting the
dress to the Museum.’
Councillor Dine Romero, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People,
Communities and Culture at Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: ‘We’re
delighted that this iconic dress will be added to the Fashion Museum collection
to represent a key moment of 2021.
‘We look forward to seeing it on display at the Museum, where local
residents and visitors will be able to admire it up-close.’
