Meghan Markle has finally revealed the reason she changed the name of her lifestyle brand from American Riviera Orchard to As Ever.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, admitted the original name of her business venture became something of a “word salad” — prompting her to get back to the drawing board in search of a new idea.
On Tuesday’s episode of her “Confessions of a Female Founder” podcast, the former actress spoke to pal and celebrity hair colorist Kadi Lee, who owns the Highbrow Hippie hair salon in Los Angeles.
“I had secured As Ever as a name in 2022, and then as everything started to evolve last year, and bringing in a partner the size that it was, and it was just so interesting,” Markle said during the episode.
“Because you remember, I said, ‘I like American Riviera as an umbrella,’ and then be able to have verticals beneath it. And maybe have the ‘Orchard’ really small. But when that’s not feasible… suddenly it became this word salad. I didn’t love that so much.”
In September 2024, Markle’s application for American Riviera Orchard was reportedly rejected by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), who warned that businesses cannot trademark geographical locations.
The government agency also warned that Markle’s product descriptions could fit into multiple trademark categories.
At the time, Markle’s team considered the pushback “routine and expected” when filing for trademarks, The Post heard.
Rival lifestyle brand Harry & David later filed a protest against Markle’s lifestyle brand, claiming the name is far too similar to its “Royal Riviera” product line.
Come November 2024, Markle’s team asked the USPTO for a three-month extension to launch the brand.
She finally unveiled As Ever to the world in February, revealing that she has ditched the American Riviera Orchard moniker for good.
“I was like, ‘OK, well let’s go back to the thing that I’ve always loved. Let’s use the name that I protected for a reason that had been sort of under wraps,” the “Suits” alum said.
“And then we were able to focus in the quiet and put our heads down and build on something that no one was sniffing around to even see about.”
“It was just really, really helpful to have that quiet period which you would know after spending so many years working on something, building it and the pivots that you had to take with it,” she added.
Lee, whose Highbrow Hippie salon is based in Venice, Calif., boasts several A-listers as her clients, including Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Sigourney Weaver.
“Look at you now, I mean the name Highbrow Hippie is no longer just a blog and a hair salon, it’s a product line too,” the mom of two told her pal.
“You have a hair supplement and hair serum that you just launched last year, and it’s already been named best hair serum by Oprah Daily.”
Markle, for her part, became an investor of the haircare brand in November 2024.
The keen investor even attended the launch party for the brand that month, where she posed for photos with Lee and celebrity hairstylist Serge Normant.
Normant, who famously created Markle’s bridal hairstyles for her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry, is believed to have introduced the former working royal to Lee.
Markle and Lee often get together in Los Angeles, and the hair colorist has even thrown Markle a belated birthday celebration at her salon last summer.
