A British clothing brand known for dressing Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children has come under fire after it was falsely credited with designing the dress Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter Lilibet wore for her birthday. Now, the women-owned company that made the blue frock has spoken out.
On 6 June, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a new portrait of their daughter Lilibet Diana following her first birthday. The smiling photograph was taken at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor on Saturday, during an intimate birthday celebration with family and close friends.
The photograph of Lilibet, which was taken by family friend and photographer Misan Harriman, pictured her in a pale blue dress with short sleeves, paired with a white lace headband.
Much like her mother Meghan Markle, who is known to wear items that sell-out in a matter of hours, fans immediately rushed to purchase the baby blue dress worn by Lilibet. Although, it was to the wrong clothing store.
Upon the release of Lilibet’s first birthday portrait, it was reported that the blue top and matching bloomers were from Franco-Spanish children’s designer Amaia Kids. The online clothing boutique, which is based in London, is known to be a favourite of Kate Middleton’s.
In 2018, Prince George was pictured wearing a short-sleeved white top with blue piping from the brand, priced at £42. The youngest, Prince Louis, wore an Amaia wool jacket to a performance at The London Palladium in 2020. And just last week Princess Charlotte wore a £140 Amaia navy coat and an ivory coat from the same brand during the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations.
Fans were quick to assume that Lilibet’s matching blue set was also from Amaia, and perhaps a birthday present from Prince William and Kate Middleton as previously reported by the Daily Mail.
However, the true maker of the one-year-old’s dress was an American children’s fashion label, Isabel Garretón.
The California-based company is an ethically manufactured fashion brand that provides work opportunities to underprivileged women in Chile. The piece, which is titled the “Bishop Pique Dress”, also comes with a matching blue bonnet and diaper cover set for $132.
On Wednesday, Isabel Garretón took to Instagram to thank Meghan Markle for supporting her fashion label, which will cease all operations this month after 30 years.
“What a beautiful surprise and validation of our 30 year mission to uplift and empower women,” the Chilean-born designer wrote in her Instagram caption. “Thank you @sussexroyal for selecting a woman owned ethical brand that existed for 30+ years only to uplift other women.
“It’s a lovely moment to see as we prepare to close our doors and an honor for our designs and hand craft to be a part of Lilibet Diana’s First Birthday at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee,” she concluded the post.
While many people flooded the comments section with praise for the brand, one Instagram user pointed out how Amaia Kids had previously been attributed as the designer of Lilibet’s dress, and has yet to make a correction.
“It’s really sad the British media credited another brand who have all their products sold out instead of you. So sad that brand didn’t correct anything,” they commented.
“It’s the way of the world. People rush to be first, not necessarily right,” Isabel Garreton replied, adding that their label has also sold out of the Bishop Pique Dress worn by Lilibet.
Others took to Twitter to give proper credit to the designer, and called out Amaia Kids for allegedly claiming Lilibet’s blue dress was from their store.
“I’m glad that the true designer of Lilibet’s dress spoke up because there’s a brand that stayed quiet whilst they were getting credit,” one user tweeted.
Speaking to The Independent, founder Amaia Arrieta said, “When we were made aware of the unfortunate error in crediting Amaia within hours on Tuesday morning, we corrected the situation. At that time, nobody knew it was from Isabel Garretón yet, that was Tuesday morning. I do believe it was an editorial error that got out of hand very quickly.”
She added, “We are also a small business and wish Isabel Garretón every success now and in the future.”
Since the release of Lilibet Diana’s portrait, the mother-owned business that made her white lace headband also experienced a boost in sales. Fans praised Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for supporting the local business, Village Baby.
The Independent has contacted Isabel Garretón and Amaia Kids for comment.
