Meghan Markle’s Oprah interview outfit named Fashion Museum’s ‘Dress of the Year’

The black-and-white Armani dress the Duchess of Sussex wore is said to cost RM19,930. Photo: Handout

The wrap dress Meghan Markle’s wore during her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey has been enshrined.

The US$4,750 (RM19,930) black-and-white Armani dress the Duchess of Sussex wore is being touted as 2021′s Dress of the Year by Bath, England’s Fashion Museum.

A version of the “triple silk georgette dress with deep front, lotus flower embroidery and matching belt” that matches the one the embattled royal wore during the headline-grabbing interview was donated by the iconic Italian fashion brand to the venue.

The understated frock will be featured in the Fashion Museum Bath’s “A History of Fashion in 100 Objects” exhibition, located in the world heritage city 100 miles west of London.

“This is a fabulous addition to the Fashion Museum collection,” Fashion Museum Manager Rosemary Harden said with the announcement.

“There are moments in history that are all about the dress and Meghan’s interview with Oprah was just such an occasion. The softly structured Armani dress with beautiful appliqued lotus flower motif was part of a carefully curated look, guaranteed to send messages, and to imprint itself in our consciousness time and time again,” she said.

The “Dress of the Year” honor was bestowed upon the garment by last year’s honorees, Dazed magazine’s Ibrahim Kamara and Gareth Wrighton – whose “Dress of Hope” snagged the title for the pandemic year 2020.

The designers referred to the Winfrey interview as “the definitive anti-establishment moment that will forever endure in the British collective consciousness.”

“Meghan’s wrap dress by Armani, worn to showcase a divine pregnancy, framed the Duchess in black against the bountiful landscaping of Tyler Perry’s Hollywood garden,” the pair continued. “This look now, through sheer association with a viral television moment, is firmly (ingrained) in our pop culture psyche.”

The dress, which is from Giorgio Armani’s Spring/Summer 2022 cruise collection, is still available for purchase in the United States. – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service