The Duchess of Cambridge has long been a style icon, with the pieces she wears often selling out as fans try to recreate her look. Now it appears the 'Kate effect' has helped sales to soar at two of her favourite high street brands – Hobbs and Reiss.
Both retailers, which Kate has been seen wearing over the last couple of months, reported a rise in sales in December.
As reported by The Telegraph, Reiss recorded a 19.7 per cent lift in sales over the six weeks to 7 January, while Hobbs saw a 14.3 per cent rise in sales over the 13 weeks before New Year's Eve.
Kate wore a Hobbs coat to attend church on Christmas day
Reiss said its sales benefitted from their "excellent product offering" and international expansion, while Hobbs' sales boost was helped by online sales jumping by more than a quarter.
They also made headlines over the festive period when Kate chose to wear a chic Hobbs 'Celeste' coat to attend the traditional Christmas day church service. The Duchess has worn the £369 coat on a number of occasions since 2012, and while it has long since sold out, fans often flock to the retailer in a bid to emulate her style.
The Duchess is also a fan of Reiss - pictured here wearing a blouse from the retailer
Although Kate often inspires many women with her sophisticated style, she was recently overtaken by Holly Willoughby in a poll to name the nation's favourite style icon. The This Morning presenter topped a poll of celebrity style influencers for 2017 by fashion website Styledlike.com, pushing Kate into second place.
In total, 16% of women chose Holly as the celebrity they would look to first for outfit inspiration, and Kate followed close behind, with 14% of women saying they aspire to dress like the Duchess.
Also making the top five are US stars Blake Lively, Jennifer Lawrence and Kim Kardashian. They were followed by Beauty and the Beast star Emma Watson, Alexa Chung, Mila Kunis, HELLO! Online blogger Michelle Keegan and Emma Stone.
