Meghan Markle opened up about the surprisingly turbulent launch of her lifestyle brand “As Ever,” admitting in a new interview with People, “There are tons of twists and turns — even with the name. I was figuring it out in real time.”
The brand’s rocky ride began last March when the Duchess of Sussex launched American Riviera Orchard and was soon sending out jars of jam to celebrity friends. But not long after, the brand went dark.
Last fall, it emerged that Markle was struggling to get some of the company’s brand visuals through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Finally, just this past February, Markle revealed on Instagram (to which she returned earlier this year) that she was abandoning American Riviera Orchard and would instead dub her company, “As Ever.”
“I appreciate everyone who gave me the grace to make mistakes and figure it out and also to be forgiving with myself through that,” Markle said of the experience in her new interview. “It’s a learning curve.”
When Markle announced As Ever in February, she offered some explanation for her decision to drop the original American Riviera Orchard name. Noting “American Riviera” is a nickname for Santa Barbara, the area in Southern California where she and Prince Harry live, Markle said the name “limited [her] to things that were just manufactured and grown in this area.”
As it turned out, however, As Ever had its own set of limitations, due to its similarities with the name of a Chinese clothing company, ASEVER. Markle was able to secure a trademark for her own As Ever, but reportedly on the condition that she not sell any clothing. (If Markle ever wanted to expand into fashion, she would ultimately have to do so under a different brand name.)
Along with launching As Ever, Markle is gearing up for the premiere of her new Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. The show was originally set to premiere on Jan. 15, but was pushed because of the Los Angeles wildfires. It’s now slated to hit the streaming service tomorrow, March 4.
