Daniel Johnson
September 1, 2024
Cesta Collective is a sustainable luxury brand that knits handbags in Rwanda.
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, continued her investment in women-owned businesses by investing in Cesta Collective, a sustainable luxury brand that knits basket bags in Rwanda and finishes the bags in Italy.
According to The New York Times, Markle first discovered the brand while doing her daily online shopping.
“I spend a lot of time on Google looking for brands. I try to find great new designers, especially in different regions, when people are online looking for things and reading,” Markle told the outlet over the phone.
The brand immediately felt the impact of the royal’s celebrity when Markle wore a Cesta handbag during a dinner date with Prince Harry, Cameron Diaz, Gwyneth Paltrow and the couple in May 2023. Cesta founder Erin Ryder told The New York Times that the effect of Markle’s endorsement was immediate and noticeable.
“We were on our way to Mexico to shoot a lookbook,” Ryder says, “and we got off the plane, got online, and a style that had been a bit slow was suddenly sold out and we had a ton of ‘restock’ requests. We knew there had to be a reason why it was selling so quickly, so Courtney went online and found out why. We had more sales than we’d ever had in a single day.”
Following this incident, Markle, Ryder, and Chesta’s other co-founder, Courtney Fasciano, fostered a relationship, and in the summer of 2024, Markle became the brand’s first outside investor. According to Fasciano and Ryder, Markle’s ownership stake is minority, but they declined to disclose the exact percentage or amount of her investment.
Markle told the outlet that she enjoys her role as a trendsetter. “When I know the world is watching and paying close attention to every detail of what I wear or don’t wear, I support designers that I’m really close friends with and smaller, high-profile brands that don’t get the attention they deserve,” she said. “That’s one of the most powerful things I can do, and that’s simply by wearing earrings.”
When it comes to Chesta, founders Ryder and Fasciano prioritize responsible production and fair wages for artisans. Though their bags sell for a few hundred dollars and they make about $1 million a year in revenue, they are the only full-time employees at the company and emphasize that profit is not their primary goal. Like Markle, they aim to invest in women, but the Chesta founders are also looking to expand into new markets and collaborate with female artisans in developing countries.
Markle, meanwhile, sees the influence he’s made possible as a healthy alternative to the competitive nature of business, calling himself a dolphin rather than a shark.
“Investing in them has helped me prepare for this chapter of investing in myself,” Markle told The New York Times.
Markle calls her venture capital business “Dolphin Tank,” which is run differently than “Shark Tank.” Markle’s portfolio currently includes five to 10 brands that she considers complementary to her American Riviera Orchard brand. “These are friendly waters,” Markle added.
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