Meghan Markle has officially ended her maternity leave after giving birth to Archie Harrison, and she made her first public outing this week to launch her new Smart Works capsule collection. The new clothing line will benefit her patronage Smart Works – which is a charity that helps women find employment – and during the next two weeks, Markle’s design partners will donate one item to Smart Works for every item that customers purchase.
The Duchess of Sussex held a press conference in London to launch the new line while wearing two pieces from the collection, a white button-down shirt from Misha Nonoo and some slim-fit black pants from Jigsaw.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2UTmVuFbPh/
There are five key pieces in the collection that women need to enter the workplace. In addition to the white shirt and black pants, there is a crepe shift dress from Marks & Spencer that is available in three different colors, a one-button black blazer from Jigsaw, and a leather smart set tote bag from John Lewis & Partners that comes in black or tan.
Markle has purchased all of the items herself, and she plans to wear them during her royal tour in Africa with Prince Harry and Archie.
“When I first moved to the U.K. it was incredibly important to me personally to be able to connect with people on the ground who were doing really important work. One of the places that I went to really early on was Smart Works,” said Markle.
The Duchess explained that she is really connected to the idea of having one small project make a huge impact, and this is the kind of work she has been doing for a long time. Markle says it means a lot to her that she can do this in her new home, the UK.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2T8tlKh311/
The 38-year-old says that the project is in the same vein of the work that she and Prince Harry will continue to do – strong community-based projects – and they will share more about that next year when they launch their foundation, Sussex Royal.
The shift dresses in the collection cost $32 and they are available on the Marks & Spencer website, and the white shirt costs $125 and is available on Misha Nonoo’s website. The blazer and pants can be found on the Jigsaw UK website, but their US site is currently down. And, the totes from John Lewis & Partners are already sold out online. However, you can request a notification for when they are back in stock.
Advertisement
Meghan Markle also wrote about her Smart Works campaign in the latest issue of British Vogue, which she guest-edited. The special issue is on newsstands now.
ncG1vNJzZmiblaGyo77IrbCipqOesaa%2BjaipoGedmrSprc1mpJqqm6GybrbUrKtmpJGqu6S0xJ1koZ2iYsCurdGtZLCnoqDAbq%2FLqKuhoZ6ceq21zZ5kn6GemXqwwdNmrqGdopp6urvUZpqapl2Xwrp506GcZqaVrHq0wNilnKxlkpqzsL7EZquhnaliwKa4y2amrqxdaH9xfpZvZg%3D%3D