Meghan Markle entered the luxury handbag world hoping to receive accolades, but instead, she's met with skepticism and criticism. Let’s break down the drama surrounding Cesta Collective because, when it comes to ethical empowerment, paying artisans pennies while charging hundreds of pounds for handbags doesn’t exactly add up.
Earlier this year, Meghan Markle proudly announced her investment in Cesta Collective, a luxury handbag brand that supposedly champions women’s rights and ethical labor practices. But here’s where things take a turn. It turns out that the women crafting these bags are being paid as little as 10p an hour, while these handbags retail for over £700. That’s not empowerment—it’s exploitation with a glossy marketing gloss.
Despite promoting this as a feel-good venture, the women who are making the bags are far from living the glamorous life that Meghan and her partners enjoy. Meghan’s partners, Erin Ryder and Courtney Weinblatt-Fasciano, lead quite different lifestyles. Ryder, a Parsons School of Design alum, spends her time skiing and overseeing operations in Rwanda. Fasciano, an Ivy League graduate, lives the Brooklyn dream in a chic apartment with her former Goldman Sachs husband. Meanwhile, the Rwandan artisans who actually create the bags can barely make ends meet.
Cesta Collective has touted that they pay these artisans 500 to 700% more than the national average, but after Meghan’s involvement, they quietly removed that claim. Now, the company states that the women set their own wages. Sure—because every artisan dreams of choosing between £0.82 an hour and starvation. And if the bags don’t pass quality control, they get no pay at all. Some artisans even have to buy their own materials and rent their own workspaces. One artisan, Illumina Bay Isab, shared that she earns just £248 after three days of weaving a crossbody bag that retails for £724. That markup is not just excessive; it’s insulting.
And Meghan? She’s called this setup “incredible.” What’s truly incredible is the tone-deafness behind it all. Reports suggested Meghan was planning to launch her own limited edition handbag collection, featuring her personal stamp, but it’s been postponed. Probably for the best, considering no one seems eager to buy a bag with her name on it. If online comments are any indication, the response is overwhelmingly negative.
Social media and fashion critics have had a field day with this one, with terms like “poverty porn” and “exploitative” circulating widely. British influencer Georgie James called out the brand for profiting off the stories of Rwandan women while paying them a pittance. “This isn’t ethical fashion, it’s a marketing strategy that exploits the most vulnerable,” she said.
And let’s not overlook the biting public comments. “I wouldn’t touch anything with her name on it. She’s lazy, greedy, and takes credit for others’ work until it backfires.” Someone even joked, “Who wants a bag designed by Rachel Zayn?” Ouch. When even your fictional “Suits” character is getting dragged, you know things aren’t looking good.
This isn’t the first time Meghan has aligned herself with projects that sound promising but fall apart under scrutiny. Who could forget her high-profile Netflix deal or the podcast with Spotify? It seems like this handbag fiasco is just another misstep in a string of PR disasters.
Meghan loves to talk about impact and ethics, but as this handbag debacle demonstrates, words without meaningful action are just empty promises.
