One day in November 2010, Prince William brought out Kate Middleton to pose for photos just after they announced their engagement. It was an iconic moment, for Kate especially: she had a fresh blowout, she slipped her left hand through William’s arm, giving the photographers a perfect view of his mother’s famous sapphire engagement ring. And of course, there was the dress. Kate chose a sapphire-colored silk jersey dress by Issa for her big coming out party. Kate had been wearing Issa throughout her 20s – she was a big fan of short, silk jersey dress in bold colors and prints. When she became a duchess, her style changed a bit – she still loves too-short dresses and jewel tones, but now her go-to look is “doily.” Basically, Kate stopped wearing Issa within a year into her marriage. It was too closely associated with her single, Waity days.

So what happened to the label and to the designer, Daniella Helayel? I remember there was a lot of gossip that Kate wore so many Issa frocks during The Waity Years because Daniella would give Kate freebies in exchange for exposure. It was “The Kate Effect” in the early years, although I’ve always thought The Kate Effect – wherein whatever Kate wears sells out – was overblown, especially in recent years. As it turns out though, The Kate Effect ended up destroying the Issa label and Helayel is only climbing out of the ashes right now. Helayel gave an interview about all of the sh-t that’s gone down ever since Kate walked out in that blue dress in November 2010.

In a new interview with You magazine, Daniella Helayel says that the “Kate Effect’s” boost to her brand left her underwater and, eventually, contributed to its demise in 2015. Helayel says that despite success on the celebrity front — with stars like Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Elizabeth Hurley wearing her designs — the brand was in financial trouble in 2008 and 2009.

“Only the previous year the label was on the verge of financial crisis; it wasn’t all rose-tinted glasses,” Helayel told You. “Issa was a niche brand, we had a loyal following but in 2008 and 2009 we were in serious financial trouble. When Kate wore that dress everything changed.”

But it wasn’t all change for the better. Issa faced incredible demand after Kate debuted the now-iconic look on the day of her engagement. The style sold out in five minutes — and was reordered thousands of times after that. Helayel and her team had no idea that Kate would be wearing the dress that day, and thus had no time to prepare their inventory for the onslaught of interest. It was nothing compared to what they had seen before, even though Kate had been wearing her designs for years prior.

“That morning I’d gone to yoga as usual, and then I got a call from a friend telling me about the royal engagement,” she said. “It was all very exciting. We didn’t have a TV at the studio and this was pre-Instagram, but we soon knew Kate was wearing Issa because at four o’clock the phones began ringing and didn’t stop. It was bonkers.”

And the interest hadn’t subside weeks after the engagement was announced. After the royal engagement, Issa’s sales doubled, but the business (and capital) she had in place wasn’t ready for that sort of rapid growth.

“I didn’t have the money to finance production on that scale,” she said. “The bank refused to give me credit and the factory was screaming for me to pay its bills. I needed an investor.”

She found one: Camilla Al-Fayed, half-sister to the late Dodi Al-Fayed, who died in a car crash with Princess Diana in 1997. Al-Fayed bought a 51 percent stake in the company in July 2011. But Al-Fayed’s family — in particular, her father, Mohamed Al-Fayed — had been extremely critical of the royal family since the tragic crash. And although Kate continued to wear Issa designs at the start of her marriage, after the merger, she appeared in them less and less. Ultimately, the business move led to the collapse of the brand: A new CEO came on — whom Helayel clashed with — and she ended up leaving the brand in 2013 before it shuttered completely two years later.

“I left because I couldn’t take any more,” she said. “I felt so stressed that my hair went white and started falling out. I was broken by the end of it. I had a great business, which I’d built up on my own over a decade. To watch it evaporate was heartbreaking.”

Helayel took a break from design, traveling and spending time with family. But now she’s back with a new brand, Dhela. The first collection, which she says retains “hints of Issa” with jersey fabrics and similar styles, is available this month. (And includes plenty of Princess Kate-ready styles!) “Designing is what I do, it’s what I love, and I’m just so happy to be back,” Helayel added.

[From People]

It’s clear that Helayel doesn’t blame Kate personally, although she probably thinks that Kate maybe should have given her a heads-up about the blue dress. But basically, this is a story about when The Kate Effect goes DARK and how fashion is such a tricky business. I also think that this Issa Situation is probably one of the reasons why Kate does so many repeats, why she wears stuff that has been discontinued and why she’s going for “bespoke” stuff more and more. She doesn’t want to wear something new and off-the-rack and have that choice destroy a small business. Or maybe I’m giving Kate too much credit?

Photos courtesy of WENN.