by Daniel Johnson
September 1, 2024
Cesta Collective is a sustainable luxury brand that weaves handbags in Rwanda.
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, continued her efforts to invest in women-owned businesses by investing in Cesta Collective, a sustainable luxury brand that weaves basket bags in Rwanda and finishes the bags in Italy.
According to The New York Times, Markle initially discovered the brand while doing the mundane: online shopping.
Markle told the outlet via phone, “I spend a lot of time just Googling, looking for brands. When people are online looking for things or reading things, I’m trying to find great new designers, especially in different territories.”
After Markle wore a Cesta handbag to a dinner date she and Prince Harry had in May 2023 with Cameron Diaz, Gwenetth Paltrow and their spouses, the brand immediately felt the effect of the royal’s notoriety. Cesta founder Erin Ryder told The New York Times that the effect of Markle’s co-sign was immediate and pronounced.
“We were on our way to Mexico to shoot a look book,” Ryder said. “We got off the plane, got our internet on and, all of a sudden, this one style that had been a little bit sleepy was totally sold through, and we were getting a lot of ‘back in stock’ sign-ups. We knew there had to be some reason that these were selling so quickly, so Courtney did some internet sleuthing to find out. We had more sales in one day than we’ve ever had.”
Following that occurrence, Markle, Ryder and the other co-founder of Cesta, Courtney Fasciano, cultivated a relationship, which culminated in Markle becoming the brand’s first outside investor during the summer of 2024. According to Fasciano and Ryder, Markle’s ownership stake is a minority stake although they declined to say exactly what her percentage or amount of funding was.
Markle has relished her role as a tastemaker, as she told the outlet. “Times where I know there is a global spotlight, and attention will be given to each detail of what I may or may not be wearing, then I support designers that I have really great friendships with, and smaller, up-and-coming brands that haven’t gotten the attention that they should be getting,” Markle said. “That’s one of the most powerful things that I’m able to do, and that’s simply wearing, like, an earring.”
Regarding Cesta, founders Ryder and Fasciano prioritize responsible production and fair wages for their artisans. Despite selling their bags for hundreds of dollars and generating about $1 million annually, they remain the company’s only full-time employees and emphasize that profit isn’t their primary focus. Like Markle, they aim to invest in women, but Cesta’s founders also seek to expand into new markets and collaborate with female artisans in developing countries.
Markle, for her part, sees what her influence makes possible as a healthy alternative to the competitive nature of business, calling herself a dolphin, not a shark.
“Investing in them has helped me line up for this chapter where I’m investing in myself,” Markle told the New York Times.
Markle referred to her venture capital initiative as “dolphin tank,” which operates differently from “Shark Tank.” Markle’s portfolio now contains between five and 10 brands, which she believes are complementary to her American Riviera Orchard brand. Markle added, “These are friendly waters.”
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