Princess Kate's former favourite fashion brand suffers blow as store closures announced

Princess Kate’s former favourite fashion brand is suffering a blow as store closures are announced.

The 36-year-old British brand Ted Baker is set to shut 15 stores in the UK and cut around 245 jobs.

The business, which has plunged into administration, was a familiar favourite of the Princess of Wales who was pictured many times wearing the brand.

The princess even boosted the sales of the brand after she stepped out in their iconic £300 navy trench coat while she was still the Duchess of Cambridge.

Kate had held the navy coat in her wardrobe since as early as 2006 but made an impact on the brand when she arrived in Summerside during a royal tour of Canada.

Ted Baker reported that UK and European sales were up 8.7 per cent and global sales by almost 15 per cent after Kate was pictured wearing the brand.

The princess also matched the “Jinan” coat with a black scarf and knee-high boots during a visit to the Cheltenham Racecourse in 2008.

Kate has also worn the Stardy cream blouse by Ted Baker during a royal engagement around ten years ago.

During a visit to Wimbledon in 2017, the princess also wore a poppy-print dress by Ted Baker.

It is estimated that around 25 head office jobs will be made redundant as part of a strategy to reduce central costs at Ted Baker.

In addition to the 11 store closures, an additional four locations were embarked for closure before the firm entered administration.

The Kate Effect describes the impact that the princess’s fashion choices have on designers and brands.

Brands often see their products selling out after the princess is pictured in an item of their clothing.

After Kate appeared in a series of photos marking her 40th birthday, the Kate Effect came into full force as fans rushed to buy similar products.

The princess posed in three different gowns by British designer Alexander McQueen, but the only photo in colour showed Kate in a bright red dress.

Following the release of the pictures searches for red dresses sparked online.

LATEST ROYAL NEWS:

• Meghan Markle and Prince Harry set to wade into US politics ahead of election
• Kate has 'two choices' ahead of Louis' sixth birthday
• Princess Kate becomes UK’s most popular royal after emotional cancer announcement video

The founder of the fashion brand, Reiss spoke about how Kate affected business after wearing their dress.

David Reiss said: “There is no question that Kate choosing to wear Reiss has impacted our brand.

“The surge in web traffic following the release of these images [of Kate wearing the brand’s Shola dress in 2011] caused our website to crash. The dress promptly sold out online when service was resumed.”

Similarly, the director of Jimmy Choo, Sandra Choi talked about the effect of Kate wearing their shoes for the Baftas.

Choi said: “I’m so flattered when [Kate] chooses to wear our shoes and bags, she has so many, many choices. I was especially thrilled when the Vamp generated so much interest in our stores after she wore them to the LA BAFTA gala.”