For various reasons, I’ve been getting Puck’s daily newsletter for years. I find some of their obsessive worrystones interesting, and I often wonder why one media outlet cares THAT much about Art Basel. In recent years, they’ve been doing some odd coverage of the Duchess of Sussex in general. It’s one of those “we’re a legitimate news outlet, so what we’re doing is not gossip, but here’s some gossip” situations. They’ve previously claimed that Meghan has been working with a Montecito-based stylist named Jamie Mizrahi, and their sources claimed last summer that the Sussexes’ Netflix contract would not be renewed (lol). Puck’s latest piece – “What Went Wrong With Meghan’s Brand?” – is all about Meghan’s associations with Netflix, and her As Ever brand.
As Ever’s launch & selling out in less than an hour: One person who knows Markle intimately described the haphazard rollout and disorganized pivot as simply “the Sussex way.” I’m told the product “scarcity” was always part of the plan, and that Markle wanted everything to “sell out” within the day to create the illusion of demand. In reality, though, the company probably either produced too few units or was opaque about selling out, maybe both.
The ownership of As Ever: The ownership structure of As Ever is also difficult to untangle. Technically, it’s a partnership with Netflix in support of the show. Ted Sarandos previously described Netflix as a “passive partner in Meghan’s company.” And yet, everything is “completely manufactured and handled by Netflix,” according to one insider, who likened the venture to a licensing agreement. (A person close to Netflix claimed the terms are “more involved than licensing.”)
Meghan outsourced As Ever to Netflix? The Duchess made sure to note in the story that Netflix wasn’t just funding the venture, but the truth is that As Ever wouldn’t exist without the streamer. I heard that Markle doesn’t even employ an actual team. “She’s not building a lifestyle empire,” the insider said. “There’s no one that works for the brand. She’s outsourced the entire brand to Netflix. They send samples and she picks what she likes.” (“Meghan has been actively building a dedicated internal team to support As Ever’s growth,” a person familiar with the partnership told me, noting that Markle recently hired Melissa Kalimov as chief operating officer.)
Meghan doesn’t want As Ever to be in business with Netflix? In a way, this is kind of what most celebrity beauty ventures are like, albeit with a half-trillion-dollar streaming company’s product arm replacing what would otherwise be a small team of operators…. Perhaps As Ever’s recent inventory issues stem from the fact that Markle, who was late to the celebrity lifestyle business game, really wanted to take her Netflix-funded domestic brand back from Netflix and try it out on her own.
Meghan was considering investing in other companies: Still, I never expected the rollout of As Ever to be this bad. Also, an industry type recently pointed out that As Ever’s logo bears a striking resemblance to the iconography of Flamingo Estate’s original logo, except with hummingbirds instead of flamingos. In fact, before she decided to create American Riviera Orchard/As Ever, Markle was in advanced talks with Flamingo Estate about an investment in the company.
Meghan wanted her own celebrity brand: “She had a hard time understanding that other people were having success when she couldn’t find her footing,” said the person who knows Markle intimately. “[For Markle, it was] ‘I’m not going to add to their success, I want a piece of my own.’” According to this person, the Duchess has passed on many opportunities to invest and “be more behind the scenes”—not only with Flamingo Estate but also Oak Essentials, the beauty line spun out of Jenni Kayne that last year raised close to $10 million ahead of an Ulta Beauty launch.
Meghan wants to be an untouchable queen: Markle has proven she’s incredibly effective at selling other brands’ stuff, but that doesn’t mean she can do it when it’s her name on the label. She may influence the purchase of a J.Crew sweater, but would that same person buy As Ever knitwear? “There was the thought that she could dominate any space she decided to get into,” the insider added. “But she doesn’t want to be accessible.” Markle, it seems, wants to be an ethereal Montecito queen, this person continued, “but isn’t willing to commit in the way Gwyneth was—in the sense where Gwyneth was like, ‘I don’t care if you’re poor and can’t afford this. Get in or get out.’”
Puck goes on to say that they expect Meghan will eventually pivot again to starting a beauty line. Like, it’s clear that this person hates Meghan and thinks the As Ever venture is stupid, but did Puck miss Meghan explicitly saying that she was looking more into homeware and kitchen? That’s where As Ever is headed – less J.Crew and more Pottery Barn. Puck also missed Meghan’s ShopMy page, which is Meghan explicitly offering all kinds of beauty, homeware and fashion recommendations with commissions. So many people in so many industries are dismissive of Meghan’s Midas Touch – it feels like Ted Sarandos is one of the few people who actually understands that people want to dress, cook and decorate like Meghan, and that Netflix is uniquely positioned to monetize everything Meghan wants to do.
As for the structure of As Ever… I don’t think Meghan has outsourced everything to Netflix, and I think that’s why the As Ever situation has felt a bit chaotic for several months. The mixed-messages about restocking products, the contradictory comments in interviews and her podcast, the indecisiveness about how to proceed – that’s all because Meghan is in control. If Netflix was in control, things would be moving a lot differently.
Photos courtesy of As Ever’s IG.
