Next season’s look? It is already in your wardrobe

From the Paris catwalks to the latest royal tour, the message is the same: you already own the latest trends, including long, loose dresses, jeans and jumpsuits

Just in case you need a recap – there is quite a lot going on in the news at the moment, so sometimes even the most significant stories can slip under the radar – there have been two major style events taking place simultaneously over the past week. One in Paris, where it is fashion week, and one in Cape Town, where the Duchess of Sussex is based during the royal tour, making for another kind of fashion week.

Here’s the thing: the key fashion news from each is the same. Your dress for next season? It’s your dress for this season. Your new look is clothes you already wear, and a style you already have. In the past week, Meghan has worn two dresses that she wore on last autumn’s visit to Tonga: a blue shirtdress by Veronica Beard, and a dark striped sundress by Martin Grant. Now, first things first: clearly it is ludicrous that a woman wearing a dress twice is in any way a news story. But it is. Meghan’s “recycling” of her wardrobe has sparked a hundred headlines this week. Along with her denim jacket and her cross-body handbag, the dresses seem to be part of a soft relaunch of the Sussexes as low-key and relatable, post the whole private jet thing. But they also make for a new kind of fashion statement from Meghan: that her way of being a style icon doesn’t need to depend on an endless display of new clothes.