Princess Kate has a very special talent for using clothing to send a message, and she demonstrated it once again this Wednesday. On the occasion of the state visit of President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria and his wife, Oluremi, the Prince and Princess of Wales welcomed them to The Fairmont Windsor Park Hotel.
For the welcome, Kate set aside her usual designer labels and wore, for the first time, a coat by Tolu Coker, a British-Nigerian designer and one of the most influential voices on the London creative scene. Choosing that piece for that specific event was no coincidence.
What the Tolu Coker coat Kate wore looks like and how much it costs
The coat is the Levita double-breasted blazer from the brand’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection, priced at approximately $1,800.
Made from 100% British wool in charcoal gray, the coat features a longline silhouette, a fitted waist, and defined shoulders.
What makes it special is the double-breasted lapel and the contrasting white stretch cotton collar, which, along with the double-button front, give it the look of a luxury uniform with nods to 1960s aviation.
The brand itself describes the coat as a piece that balances precise tailoring with understated elegance, and that balance was clearly evident on Kate.
What accessories did Kate choose to pair with her Tolu Coker coat?
The rest of the look was a combination of new and repurposed pieces. For her headwear, she chose her ‘Lupin’ hat from Jane Taylor Millinery in gray velvet, which she first wore in Australia in 2014 and has worn again on several occasions. This time, it featured a new white bow that matched the lapels of her coat.
For footwear, she chose Hugo Boss ‘Staple P90-L’ shoes in anthracite with a crocodile-effect leather, and for her bag, she opted for a black Mulberry Small Amberley Crossbody.
For jewelry, she chose the Collingwood diamond and pendant pearl earrings, pieces from the Royal Collection with a story worth telling.
Each earring features one large round diamond, four small diamonds, three baguette-cut diamonds, and a Bahrain pearl. These pearls come from a shell containing seven large pearls that the ruler of Bahrain gave to then-Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip as a wedding gift in 1947. Two of these pearls were used to create these earrings.