The designer who made Meghan Markle’s wedding gown reminds us that luxury and value can coexist.

It’s nighttime in England when I reach Clare Waight Keller at home over Zoom. She looks like she’s ready to start the day, not end it, with a kind smile and a warm yet professional aura, dressed in a perfectly oversize deep-navy sweater with the sleeves rolled up.

“Is it Uniqlo?” I ask. I wonder because Waight Keller officially became the Japanese brand’s creative director in September, after having a successful run of designing a much-hyped and often sold-out capsule collection of chic, elevated essentials called Uniqlo:C. “Yes,” she says, “but I bought this five or six years ago. I’ve been a Uniqlo customer for the last decade, even before I worked for them.” She adds that she’s always believed that the brand offers “incredible quality for the value. You never go there feeling like you’re getting ripped off.”