- The Nano Montreal is a miniature-sized top handle bag by DeMellier.
- Kate Middleton wore it for an official visit to Scarborough with Prince William last week.
- The company donates life-saving vaccines to orphaned children through the “A Bag, A Life” initiative.
Kate Middleton’s latest go-to bag combines style and comfort.
The Princess of Wales, 40, hugged fans and posed for selfies during her official visit to Scarborough with Prince William last Thursday, accessorising her monochromatic look with the Nano Montreal, a miniature-sized top handle bag in a rich toffee colour by British brand DeMellier.
“Kate always looks so stunning and polished. I loved the all-camel look, it was so beautiful, timeless and understated,” Mireia Llusia-Lindh, founder and designer of DeMellier, tells PEOPLE. “It’s such a huge honor, I cannot emphasize enough what amazing ambassadors they are for Britain as a country and for British brands like ours.”
Founded in 2017 by Harvard graduate Llusia-Lindh, the company has always been about more than just eye-catching design. DeMellier donates a set of life-saving vaccines to orphaned children through the “A Bag, A Life” initiative with SOS Children’s Villages, a global charity whose mission is to ensure that every child has the love, care, and support of a family.
“I wanted to give back as part of the brand’s ethos, and it was difficult to choose a charity,” says the Spanish-born designer, “but as a mother of three, I felt that children dying from preventable causes was beyond heartbreaking.”
“Beyond selling beautiful handbags and empowering women, we also are contributing to a greater good and that’s something that everyone in the team really values strongly. It’s very rewarding and very important to myself and the whole team — we do it because we believe in it,” she says.
Kate’s royal outing last week was not the first time she was seen carrying the $395 micro-bag (which can also be worn as a cross-body bag). She wore it to the National Portrait Gallery in May of last year and chose the navy version for an official visit to Northern Ireland in October.
When a newly engaged Meghan Markle wore their Venice bag in dark green on one of her first royal walkabouts with Prince Harry in 2018, the brand got its first taste of royal fame. Camilla, now Queen Camilla, purchased the same bag a
“We’re not sure how that happened! They both purchased the bag from the website — it’s wonderful to see it enjoyed by people of different generations “Llusia-Lindh says year later, and it has since become one of her most-used styles. (Camilla loves her bag so much that she has it in several colours!)
Princess Beatrice is also a fan of the label, and Zara Tindall wore one of their understated black clutches to the late Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September.
Llusia-Lindh refuses to comment on which royal wearer is causing the most disruption to DeMellier’s newly launched website. “I couldn’t say,” she says, “but every time a royal wears one of our bags, we see a strong impact.” “There are very few people in the world who have their reach and dedicate their lives to serving their country, which is why it is such an honour for us.”
Kate wore the bag with a pair of $6 Accessorize earrings, a fitted turtle neck dress, and a wool mid-length camel coat from Max & Co. to Thursday’s event, which saw the royal couple launch a funding collaboration between The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Two Ridings Community Foundation to support young people’s mental health.
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