The vintage clothing brand that shares the same name as Meghan Markle’s newly announced As Ever saw its sales skyrocket after the latest backlash.
The Duchess of Sussex has renamed her lifestyle brand, previously known as American Riviera Orchard (ARO), to As Ever and announced the change on her Instagram account this week.
But her joyous news was met with a backlash from several people, who criticised after they pointed out that there is already a small business called As Ever, based in New York.
As Ever, a family-run business run by couple Mark Kolski and Astrid Dahl, is based in New York, with a store in New Jersey too.
However, it appears Meghan’s announcement had a big impact on the small business as fans rushed to purchase its clothing pieces, resulting in all of its sale items being out of stock in one day.
The brand, which specialises in “restructured vintage, small quantity pieces and unique one of a kinds”, still has regular items in stock on its website.
Fans noticed the latest boost and took to social media to express their views.
One user wrote on X: “As Ever – the clothing shop that Markle made famous. They are sold out of EVERYTHING.”
A second person replied: “Well, that is one bit of good news to come of this mess.”
While third fan said: “I hope they find success out of this situation.”
A fourth person added: “Best publicity they’ve ever had.”
This week, one of its founders took to social media to acknowledge the latest wave of publicity and vowed to carry on promoting the legacy of the brand.
Mr Kolski said in a post on the brand’s Instagram page: “Wow and Hello, I want to say thank you to all the old friends who know and love our small family brand As Ever, and also say hi to all those that have just become aware we exist.
“In the last 36 hours there has been an outpouring of support and concern regarding recent events around our namesake brand. We are aware. We are not affiliated.”
The post detailed how the brand started all the way back in 2015 and how it officially launched in 2017, adding that the couple are “grateful to still be here” making clothing in New York and New Jersey.
It added: “We are grateful for all the customers coast to coast and world wide that have supported our venture. We will continue As Ever, Mark Kolski.”