The glamorous gown worn by Meghan Markle for her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey last year has been named Dress of the Year for 2021 by the Fashion Museum in Bath.
Markle's Armani gown – a striking black and white silk piece that she wore with minimal accessories – was from the fashion house's Spring/Summer 2022 Cruise collection, and featured a deep front V-neckline, a matching belt and delicate lotus flower embroidery across the bust.
The Duchess of Sussex wore the gown for one of the most anticipated interviews in recent memory, during with she made claims of racism towards her and her son, Archie, from within the Firm, including their alleged concerns about how "dark" his skin would be.
She also claimed that her pleas for help during periods of increasingly dire mental health were ignored, and that she couldn't access senior members of the family to ask for help.
Members of the Royal Family, particularly Kate Middleton and Princess Diana in the past, have used clothing as a means of sending messages and at the time of the interview, speculation among onlookers was rife. In some contexts, the lotus flower represents regeneration and resilience, given its ability to bloom despite harsh conditions.
The gown is now on display at the Fashion Museum in Bath, as part of its exhibition A History of Fashion in 100 Objects.
Each year, the museum invites a figure from the fashion industry to choose a dress of the year, and this year's selector were Ibrahim Kamara and Gareth Wrighton, editor-in-chief and art director of Dazed magazine respectively.
Speaking of the dress, they said: "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."
Opened in 1963 as the Costume Museum, the Fashion Museum houses a collection of significant items from dresses by Mary Quant and Ossie Clark from the 60's, to historical costumes from the 18th and 19th centuries.
