London: The five-day-old Archie Harrison is already creating stirs in the retail world. For his first public appearance, his parents wrapped him in an ivory cashmere shawl by GH Hurt & Son.
This age-old royal tradition, of wrapping babies in a shawl by the British family firm was unexpectedly followed by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Harry and Meghan have considerably deviated from other royal traditions, such as not opting for a birth at the Lindo Wing, keeping a very unconventional name for their baby, and not posing for the media right after the birth.
When Archie made his debut in the GH Hurt & Son shawl, it created a flurry on the company’s website, reported the DailyMail. The site has witnessed over 25,000 visitors in the last 24 hours, compared to the few hundred it receives on a regular day. This equalled to a 180-200 per cent surge in the website’s traffic. The Nottingham-based company has also received several enquiries for their other products, confirmed Richard Taylor, marketing director of GH Hurt & Son.
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This brand has been used for over 70 years by the royals, when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh selected a GH Hurt & Son shawl for Prince Charles’ public debut in 1948. In the coming decades, Prince Charles and Diana, Prince William and Kate too opted for the shawls from the firm to swaddle their babies for public appearances.
New-born Prince Harry swaddled in a GH Hurt & Son shawl, during his debut on the steps of the Lindo Wing. (Photo: AP)
William and Kate swaddled all their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in the firm’s shawl when they first presented their children on the steps of the Lindo Wing.
“It shows they're doing things their own way but they're also drawing on family tradition. How amazing is it that they can be modern and different, but also traditional. It’s a perfect mix for a young, modern couple,” said Richard Taylor.
Harry and Meghan selected the firm’s Leaves and Flowers design shawl for Archie. The design also features a shell design along the border. The woollen shawl retails for £105 and is available in pink and blue, as well as ivory. It takes up to three days to make it and goes through the hands of eight artisans before it is completed.
Taylor also revealed that the Leaves and Flowers shawl was not a best-seller design but is expecting that to change. After being spotted on baby Archie, sales are expected to skyrocket as the public yields to the ‘Archie effect’.
