Me+Em gets boost from fashion choices of new PM’s wife

Me+Em, the UK-based premium label, has received a boost in recent days from the endorsement of the new Prime Minister’s wife. Lady Victoria Starmer has been seen wearing two of its key pieces at major events and both have become sellouts as a result.

The PM’s partner has no official role in Britain — unlike say, France or the US, the PM isn’t head of state as we have the monarchy for that.

But that doesn’t mean the individual concerned doesn’t have a big impact unofficially.

We’ve seen from recent years — most notably with David Cameron’s wife Samantha, Boris Johnson’s wife Carrie and Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty — how choosing a particular label can have a similar effect on a brand’s sales as being selected by one of the higher-profile royals or another celebrity.

Me +Em saw Lady Starmer wearing a short-sleeved cropped jacket (paired with wide-leg trousers and Russell & bromley platform trainers) on election night. And the day after she chose the brand’s more formal red dress with topstitching.

The important thing about both choices is that they were among the most photographed fashion items globally late last week as news of the election result was reported worldwide.

She’s also been seen wearing Needle & Thread at a Buckingham Palace state banquet and US label Simkhai earlier on election day. And one key point is that while all of these are upmarket labels, they’re in the premium, rather than luxury, price scale.

It will be interesting to see whether future events seems her patronising more expensive labels like Burberry, Mulberry or Jenny Packham.

For now though, Me+Em is one British brand that can bask in the extra attention it has had due to the general election.