American Riviera Orchard: Everything to know about Meghan Markle's new lifestyle brand and its possible connection to California

Meghan Markle launched a new lifestyle brand called American Riviera Orchard on Thursday, March 14. She unveiled a new Instagram account and a website for the brand. As per the company's trademark application, American Riviera will sell various lifestyle and home decor products.

At the time of publishing this article, the brand's official Instagram account had garnered over 334K followers and its bio read, "By Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. Established 2024.” On visiting the American Riviera's website, users are requested to enter their email-ids to sign up on a waitlist.

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What is Meghan Markle's new lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard about?

The name "American Riviera Orchard" is reportedly a reference to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's present home town, Santa Barbara in California. It is a small city located 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles. As per Travel & Leisure, Santa Barbara has been referred to as "American Riviera" for over a century.

In 2020, Meghan and Harry stepped down from their royal duties and moved to the United States. Since then, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been involved in various high-profile media ventures. American Riviera Orchard is the first time Meghan has shown interest in selling physical goods, reports BBC.

The couple also signed a 5-year deal with streaming giant Netflix (estimated to be worth $100 m) and a $20m Spotify contract that ended in 2023.

As per Markle's brand's official trademark filing application, American Riviera Orchard will sell lifestyle items such as cookbooks, dinnerware, kitchen linen and tableware and preserved foods such as jams, jellies and nut butters. The list of items also includes table, place card holders, specified to be "not of precious material," as reported by The Guardian.

The brand's international registration application includes textiles, string bags, yoga gear and stationery. It also includes pet-related items like leashes, bird seeds, feeding mats and collars.

The Duchess of Sussex previously ran a lifestyle blog, The Tig, reportedly named after Tignanello wine. The blog was launched in 2014 and shut down in 2017, seven months prior to the Duchess's engagement with Prince Harry.

American Riviera Orchard's first Instagram story featured a grainy video showing Markle cooking in a kitchen and a hand arranging flowers. The video included Nancy Wilson's I Wish You Love as background music.

Meghan Markle announced the launch of her new brand through nine inter-connected Instagram posts (grid aesthetic), adding up to the brand's logo. The logo includes gold and cream colors, with the brand's name written in calligraphy.