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Royal Style & Fashion

The Cashmere Sweater Meghan Wears on Repeat

One Loro Piana crewneck keeps resurfacing across Meghan Markle's wardrobe, from a Lagos departure lounge to With Love, Meghan. Here is the story behind it.

Court & Capital Editorial 8 min read
A soft, folded beige cashmere sweater, echoing the light dune melange of the Loro Piana jumper Meghan Markle wears repeatedly.
A soft, folded beige cashmere sweater, echoing the light dune melange of the Loro Piana jumper Meghan Markle wears repeatedly.

Most wardrobe pieces get one good outing and a single set of photographs. Meghan Markle’s cashmere sweater has had rather more than that. The Loro Piana Takao, a short-sleeved crewneck in a soft, oat-toned melange, has followed her from a departure lounge in Nigeria to her own kitchen table on Netflix’s With Love, Meghan, resurfacing so often that royal-watchers now treat it less as a single purchase than as a recurring character in her off-duty wardrobe.

It is an unusual kind of fame for a jumper. Meghan’s most-discussed clothes tend to be one-off moments: a wedding gown, a reception dress, a gala look worn once and archived. The Takao is the opposite: a piece bought, worn, re-worn, and photographed enough times that fashion writers can now trace its history like a small biography. That repetition is exactly what makes it worth examining properly.

Here is what the sweater actually is, where it has turned up, what it costs, and the less expensive piece she has taken to layering over the top of it.

The Takao, decoded

Loro Piana’s Takao is a regular-fit crewneck in cashmere and silk, cut with short sleeves and finished with a subtle, Argyle-inspired stitch pattern worked into the knit rather than printed on top of it, a detail that photographs as texture rather than pattern from any distance. It falls to roughly hip length, the kind of proportion designed to be worn loose over trousers rather than tucked in.

The colourway Meghan favours is listed as light dune melange, a warm, sandy neutral that sits between beige and pale grey depending on the light. It is precisely the sort of shade that pairs easily with denim, tailoring or linen without competing for attention. Loro Piana, the Italian house long associated with quiet, ingredient-led luxury rather than logo-led design, prices the Takao at around $1,325 at full retail, positioning it firmly in investment-piece territory rather than everyday spending.

It is, in short, an unshowy piece built from an expensive fabric, which is exactly the kind of item Meghan’s wardrobe has increasingly leaned toward since she settled in Montecito.

First seen in Nigeria, then re-worn for Netflix

The sweater’s documented history begins well before With Love, Meghan reached a screen. Meghan was photographed in the Takao on 12 May 2024, during a meeting with the Nigerian-British designer Derrick Cobinnah shortly before she and Prince Harry departed the country at the end of their three-day visit, one stop on a trip that also took the couple to Abuja and a military hospital in Kaduna State.

That the same jumper reappeared roughly a year later in With Love, Meghan is the detail that turned it from a single paparazzi sighting into a genuine wardrobe story. Style writers who track her repeat-wear habits (a habit Meghan has spoken about approvingly, framing it as a deliberate rejection of one-outing dressing) flagged the Takao immediately when it resurfaced on screen, precisely because so few pieces in her wardrobe get a second, let alone a third, documented outing.

What it actually costs

Full retail on the Takao sits at roughly $1,325, but the sweater has also been spotted, in coverage of the Netflix series, marked down to around $662, roughly half price, a reduction more typical of an end-of-season sale than a permanent discount. Readers hunting for the piece should treat the higher figure as the reliable one and the lower figure as a sale-dependent bonus rather than a guarantee.

That price gap is itself part of the story. A four-figure cashmere sweater is a genuine investment by most measures, but Loro Piana pieces are also known for holding resale value unusually well, and cashmere-and-silk blends of this quality are built to be worn for a decade rather than a season. Seen against that timeline, the cost per wear looks rather different to the sticker price alone.

Layered in Jenni Kayne, the $395 co-star

The Takao rarely appears entirely alone. In one widely noted scene from With Love, Meghan, Meghan layered a striped Jenni Kayne “Boyfriend” cashmere sweater (priced at $395) over the top of the Loro Piana crewneck, pairing both with a pair of pleated Zara linen trousers costing around $50.

The Jenni Kayne piece has since sold out in most sizes, a fate that regularly befalls items spotted on the series; the Los Angeles label, prized for its relaxed, California-inflected basics, is a recurring name in Meghan’s post-royal wardrobe alongside Cuyana and Anine Bing. Next to the Loro Piana, though, it plays a distinctly supporting role: the accessible layer worn on top of the genuinely expensive one, rather than the other way around.

The Mindy Kaling scene and the high-low lesson

The pairing crystallised in an episode featuring Meghan’s friend Mindy Kaling as a guest, in which the two discussed dressing for comfort rather than formality while Meghan wore the Loro Piana sweater with her Zara trousers. It was a small, unstaged moment of the kind the series specialises in, and it did more to popularise “high-low dressing” among her followers than any single red-carpet look could have.

The lesson royal-watchers took from the scene was less about any one label and more about a formula: one exceptional piece, one or two accessible ones, worn together without apology. It is a philosophy that runs through the Takao sighting as a whole: the $1,325 sweater, the $395 layer and the $50 trousers, three very different price points treated as equally worth wearing well.

Why cashmere became her signature note

Since relocating to Montecito, Meghan’s wardrobe has settled into a recognisable rhythm built around soft tailoring, fluid trousers and, above all, cashmere knitwear, a shift away from the structured coat-dresses and monochrome tailoring of her working-royal years toward something closer to considered, relaxed luxury. Cashmere suits that shift particularly well: it photographs as effortless even at four figures, and it layers easily across the mild coastal climate she now lives in.

The Takao fits neatly into that pattern rather than standing apart from it. It is not a red-carpet piece or an occasion-wear choice; it is a garment built to be worn on an ordinary Tuesday, filming a cooking segment or seeing off a guest, which is precisely why its repeat appearances have resonated. Readers can picture themselves in a version of it in a way a couture gown never quite allows.

How to borrow the look for less

For readers without a Loro Piana budget, the Takao’s appeal lies as much in its shape and colour as its label. A regular-fit, short-sleeved crewneck in a light neutral melange is a silhouette widely available on the high street and from mid-market cashmere specialists alike, and the styling formula Meghan uses (one soft knit, simple trousers, minimal jewellery) translates easily regardless of price point.

The more transferable lesson may be the layering itself: pairing two knitwear pieces of different weights and price points, rather than reaching for a single “statement” jumper, is a trick that works whether the top layer costs $395 or $39. It is, in the end, the same high-low instinct that made the original outfit worth writing about.

Why it still matters

A cashmere sweater will never generate the column inches a wedding dress does, but the Takao’s slow-building, cross-continental story (Nigeria to Montecito, a departure lounge to a Netflix kitchen) says something more durable about how Meghan dresses now. It is a wardrobe built on pieces worn until they earn their price, not pieces bought for a single photograph. For a public used to tracking one-off gowns and heirloom tiaras, that quieter kind of repeat-wear story has become one of the more compelling threads to follow.

Frequently asked questions

What cashmere sweater does Meghan Markle wear on With Love, Meghan?

She wears the Loro Piana Takao, a short-sleeved cashmere-and-silk crewneck in light dune melange, priced at around $1,325 at full retail.

How much does Meghan Markle’s Loro Piana sweater cost?

The Takao retails for roughly $1,325, though it has also been spotted marked down to around $662 in coverage of the series, a sale-dependent price rather than a standing discount.

Did Meghan Markle wear the Loro Piana sweater before With Love, Meghan?

Yes. She was photographed in it on 12 May 2024 during a meeting with designer Derrick Cobinnah as she and Prince Harry concluded a three-day visit to Nigeria, roughly a year before it reappeared on the Netflix series.

What is the Jenni Kayne sweater Meghan Markle layered over the Loro Piana?

It is the Jenni Kayne “Boyfriend” cashmere sweater in a striped oatmeal colourway, priced at $395, worn as an outer layer over the Loro Piana Takao and now largely sold out.

What trousers did Meghan Markle wear with the Loro Piana sweater?

She paired it with a pair of pleated linen trousers from Zara, priced at around $50, in a deliberate mix of designer and high-street pieces.

What is Loro Piana known for?

Loro Piana is an Italian luxury house specialising in cashmere and fine wool, prized within “quiet luxury” style circles for understated, logo-free design and exceptionally soft fabrics rather than overt branding.

Why does Meghan Markle re-wear the same cashmere sweater?

Meghan has spoken favourably about repeat-wearing pieces she loves rather than treating clothes as single-use, and the Takao’s recurring appearances across more than a year reflect that approach to dressing.

Where can I get Meghan Markle’s cashmere sweater look for less?

Readers can recreate the silhouette (a regular-fit, short-sleeved crewneck in a light neutral melange) through mid-market cashmere specialists and high-street knitwear, applying the same trick of layering an accessible knit over or under a single elevated piece.

Prices, availability and stockist details are correct as of September 2026 and may change; Loro Piana and Jenni Kayne stock levels in particular fluctuate season to season.

#Meghan Markle #Duchess of Sussex #Loro Piana #cashmere #With Love Meghan

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