Meghan Markle's black-and-white Armani dress, which she wore during her March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, has been named 2021's Dress of the Year by the Fashion Museum Bath in England.
The television special, which the Duchess of Sussex took part in with Prince Harry, was considered a "bombshell" interview, in which the couple revealed details of the duchess' treatment since marrying into the UK royal family and explained their 2020 decision to step back as senior royals.
The dress, which Markle wore for the main interview, is a silk georgette dress which sold for $4,700 and is still available to buy in the US. It is a part of Giorgio Armani's spring/summer 2022 cruise collection and features lotus flower embroidery with a matching belt.
The dress has been on show at Fashion Museum Bath since February 22, as part of the A History of Fashion in 100 Objects exhibition.
Along with a key figure in the UK fashion industry, the museum selects a dress annually that "encapsulates the prevailing mood of fashion, represents the past year, and captures the imagination."
The 2021 selectors were Dazed magazine’s Ibrahim Kamara and Gareth Wrighton, who were behind the 2020 dress of the year, named the Dress of Hope.
“In today’s hyper-stylised pop culture, the Dress of the Year now has the potential to also be ‘meme of the year’ and we both latched upon Meghan and Harry’s now-iconic interview with Oprah as the definitive anti-establishment moment that will forever endure in the British collective consciousness," said Kamara and Wrighton of the piece.
“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. This look now, through sheer association with a viral television moment, is firmly ingrained in our pop culture psyche.”
It is no secret that high-profile people portray messages through their fashion choices. At the time of the CBS interview, it was speculated that Markle's choice of the lotus flower print was deliberate, given the flower's "symbolic association with rebirth, self-regeneration and spiritual enlightenment, and its ability to flourish despite seemingly challenging conditions," says the Fashion Museum Bath.
Look back at the Duchess of Sussex's best fashion moments here:
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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Brandon Maxwell, attends the Your Commonwealth Youth Challenge reception at Marlborough House on July 5, 2018 in London, England -
Queen Elizabeth II and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Givenchy, visit the Storyhouse on June 14, 2018 in Chester, England -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Carolina Herrera, and Delfina Figueras arrive for the Sentebale Polo at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club on July 26, 2018 in Windsor, England -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Emilia Wickstead, attend the official opening of the Anzac Memorial at Hyde Park on October 20, 2018 in Sydney, Australia -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Safiyaa, arrive at the Royal Albert Hall on March 7, 2020 in London, England -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Emilia Wickstead, attend the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, 2020 in London, England -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Givenchy, leave St George's Chapel after their wedding ceremony on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Dior, attends an event to mark the centenary of the RAF on July 10, 2018 in London, England -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Martin Grant, visit Bondi Beach on October 19, 2018 in Sydney, Australia -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Sentaler coat, at a community market on January 14, 2019 in Birkenhead, England -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Figue, visits the University of the South Pacific on October 24, 2018 in Suva, Fiji -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Givenchy, attends The Fashion Awards at Royal Albert Hall on December 10, 2018 in London, England -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Carolina Herrera, and Prince Harry on February 25, 2019 in Rabat, Morocco -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Stella McCartney, and Prince Harry leave Windsor Castle after their wedding to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Oscar de la Renta, attend the Australian Geographic Society Awards at the Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney, Australia, on October 26, 2018 -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Erdem, and Prince Harry attend a Commonwealth Day Youth Event at Canada House on March 11, 2019 in London, England -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Self-Portrait, arrive at Fua'amotu Airport on October 25, 2018 in Nuku'Alofa, Tonga -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Safiyaa, arrive for a state dinner on October 23, 2018 in Suva, Fiji -
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in Ralph & Russo, pose for an official engagement portrait on December 21, 2017 -
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in Theory, attend a street dance class during their visit to Star Hub community and leisure centre in Cardiff, Wales, on January 18, 2018 -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Prada, Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth II attend the Queen's Young Leaders Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace on June 26, 2018 in London, England -
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in Burberry, arrive at Social Bite cafe in Rose Street on February 13, 2018 in Edinburgh, Scotland -
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in a coat by Line The Label, announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace on November 27, 2017 in London, England -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Zimmermann, arrive at Nausori Airport on October 23, 2018 in Suva, Fiji -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Roland Mouret, attend the Cirque du Soleil premiere of 'Totem' at Royal Albert Hall on January 16, 2019 in London, England -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Jason Wu, attend the premiere of Disney's 'The Lion King' at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Reiss coat, arrives for her visit with Prince Harry to Canada House on January 7, 2020 in London, England -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Jason Wu, arrive at the 100 Days to Peace gala in London, England on September 6, 2018 -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Theia, attend a state dinner at the Royal Residence on October 25, 2018 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Karen Walker, attend a wreath laying ceremony at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park on October 28, 2018 in Wellington, New Zealand -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Hugo Boss skirt, and Prince Harry at The University of Chichester Tech Park during an official visit to Sussex on October 3, 2018 in Chichester, England -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Brandon Maxwell, attends the Your Commonwealth Youth Challenge reception at Marlborough House on July 5, 2018 in London, England -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Oscar de la Renta, attend the Coach Core Awards held at Loughborough University on September 24, 2018 in Loughborough, England -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Givenchy, arrive at a public walkabout at the Rotorua Government Gardens on October 31, 2018 in Rotorua, New Zealand -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Martin Grant coat, arrive at the Sydney Opera House on October 16, 2018 in Sydney, Australia -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Martin Grant, meets Prime Minister S Akilisi Pohiva on October 26, 2018 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Brock Collection, arrives to visit the Royal Variety Charity's residential nursing and care home Brinsworth House, in Twickenham, London, on December 18, 2018 -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Veronica Beard, and Prince Harry visit District 6 Museum on September 23, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in a Club Monaco trench, visits the Maranui Cafe in Wellington, New Zealand, on October 28, 2018 -
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Ralph Lauren, attends the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2018 in London, England -
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in La Ligne, pose with son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in an image released on March 8, 2021
