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Fashion retailer J.Crew's website was inaccessible to customers on Wednesday, after Meghan Markle wore one of the label's blazers to the Invictus Games, causing a spike in online traffic.
Meghan attended a wheelchair-basketball event at the 2023 games in Düsseldorf, Germany, with Prince Harry on September 13. She wore a monochromatic outfit including a J.Crew Giselle contrast trim sweater-blazer, which was listed on the brand's website for $158.
After Meghan made her appearance, eager fans identified the look, causing a spike in social-media posts and online traffic directed at the brand. The blazer has since sold out.
Upon identifying the item, a number of fans took to social media directing posts at J.Crew, whose website was down for a period of time, with a number suggesting that Meghan's popularity broke the internet.
The brand, however, appeared to counter this suggestion, responding to posts through its X (formerly known as Twitter) account, saying the issue was simply down to planned maintenance.
The official J.Crew Help X account responded to a number of royal fans' posts about not being able to access its website to purchase Meghan's blazer.
X user Lande007 posted: "Wait.... is Meghan wearing something from @jcrew today? Someone said that's why the site is crashed."
The brand's team responded: "The website is down for planned maintenance, but it should be completed very soon."
The website is down for planned maintenance, but it should be completed very soon.
— J.Crew Help (@jcrew_help) September 13, 2023
This, however, was questioned by the original poster, who wrote: "You scheduled planned maintenance for DAYTIME on a Wednesday? As long as I've shopping at @JCrew, and I have been for a while now, I've never come across DAYTIME scheduled maintenance."
The J.Crew Help account then sent the message: "So sorry for any frustration, but the site should be back up and running now!"
Newsweek approached representatives of J.Crew via email for comment.
This is not the first time that Meghan's fashion choices have led to a surge in online sales and eventual selling-out of stock. Following her introduction into the royal family in 2017, her fashion-industry influence was identified as the "Meghan effect", with a number of businesses receiving sales boosts whenever she was seen wearing their products.
The "Meghan effect" was developed as a successor term to the "Kate effect." This was coined to refer to the duchess's sister-in-law. The Princess of Wales' influence is estimated to be worth over £1 billion to the U.K. fashion industry.
Meghan has worn a number of J.Crew pieces since her royal wedding in 2018, including for public engagements while working in Britain.
The duchess wore a navy wool coat with contrast white piping from the brand for a visit to Birmingham, England, in 2018. She also carried one of the label's handbags for a charity polo match later that same year.
Meghan's J.Crew debut at the 2023 Invictus Games in Germany was made as she attended a number of events on Wednesday with Prince Harry.
The couple are expected to make a number of further appearances together throughout the tournament. Harry founded the Invictus Games in 2014 to provide an international platform for injured, sick and wounded veterans to showcase their mental and physical recoveries.
The 2023 games in Düsseldorf will run until September 16 where a closing ceremony will be held at the Merkur Spiel-Arena.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more