Meghan Markle has made yet another spectacular misstep, this time managing to burn bridges with the luxury fashion house Loro Piana overnight. The fallout? A staggering $2.2 million lost in sponsorship deals. And all of it because of an outfit so disastrously bad that even the most opinionated fashion critics on Reddit found themselves united in sheer horror.
The debacle unfolded during her Netflix docuseries With Love, Meghan. In one particularly cringe-inducing moment, Meghan stepped out in what was meant to be a signature Loro Piana ensemble—an effortless display of quiet luxury. Instead, she delivered an absolute fashion catastrophe. The look consisted of a short-sleeved cashmere top inexplicably layered beneath a long-sleeved sweater, paired with linen trousers. The result? A beige-on-beige disaster that was instantly mocked online.
One Redditor quipped, "Does your upper half freeze while your lower half sweats?" Another added, "My brain is malfunctioning just looking at it." The pièce de résistance was the sweater draped over her shoulders in a way that resembled a discarded relic from 1980s preppy culture.
For Loro Piana, a brand synonymous with understated elegance, this was nothing short of a nightmare. Meghan had taken their refined aesthetic and turned it into what one critic called "geriatric nouveau riche nonsense." Rumors quickly spread that the company’s CEO wasted no time in severing ties. By the following morning, her contract was gone. The financial damage included $1.5 million in immediate contract losses and an additional $700,000 in vanished bonuses and future collaborations—a grand total of $2.2 million wiped out in a single night, all thanks to one fashion faux pas.
But the financial setback was only part of the fallout. The real blow came in the form of social exile. Just last year, Gwyneth Paltrow hosted an ultra-exclusive Loro Piana soirée in Montecito, mere miles from Meghan’s lavish estate. The guest list was a roll call of Hollywood’s elite—Oprah, Ted Sarandos, and Rob Lowe, all mingling under lemon trees and draped in the finest Italian cashmere. Meghan and Harry, however, were nowhere to be seen. The snub spoke volumes.
Naturally, the internet had a field day. One sharp-witted observer commented, "Look at me in my expensive clothes, cooking with famous people—so obnoxious." Others pointed out the irony of Meghan’s past grandstanding about sustainable fashion, only to now be seen in Zara when it suited her. Her fashion choices, much like her public persona, have been criticized as overpriced, overhyped, and hopelessly out of touch. "The Duchess of Industrial Beige," one critic mocked, while another summed it up more brutally: "She wants to be effortlessly chic but ends up looking like a Target shopper cosplaying wealth."
The Montecito snub and the $2.2 million sponsorship loss are just the latest in a string of humiliations. Meghan had hoped With Love, Meghan would be her grand return—a triumphant clapback at her critics. Instead, it has only cemented her decline. Even once-loyal allies like Oprah and Tyler Perry are keeping their distance, leaving her to network with B-listers at best. Her extravagant spending, relentless PR maneuvers, and desperate attempts to maintain Hollywood relevance have turned into a cautionary tale.
Meghan isn’t a trailblazer, a misunderstood visionary, or a mastermind dismantling the monarchy. She’s a privileged socialite with abysmal timing, even worse fashion instincts, and a rapidly shrinking circle of allies. And as Gwyneth Paltrow raised a glass to timeless elegance at the Loro Piana gathering, Meghan remained on the outside looking in—a social pariah in the very world she so desperately longs to be part of. The financial loss may sting, but the real pain comes from something far worse: irrelevance.
