Kate Middleton wears Toronto designer's coat and now it's sold out

Bojana Sentaler is quickly learning just what it meansto feel the full force of the "Kate effect."

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Barely 24 hours after the Duchess of Cambridge appeared in a coatby the Toronto-based fashion designer, the grey alpaca garment andmany others from the Sentaler brand sold out online, with orderscoming in from around the world.

"It was incredible," said the 31-year-old Sentaler, whoseeponymous brand features luxury outerwear. "The Kate effect, for mybrand, was an instant brand awareness around the entire world."

'At first I thought it was a joke'

Kate and Prince William, along with their two young children, arecurrently on a week-long visit to British Columbia and Yukon. Theoutfits worn by the duchess have been closely tracked by royalwatchers and fashion enthusiasts.

Speculation has swirled over whether she would opt for anyhomegrown designs. It happened Wednesday in Carcross, Yukon, whenKate appeared in the Sentaler wrap coat, giving the Canadian brandwhich launched in 2009an immediate boost.

"At first I thought it was a joke and then I went on Twitter andI saw the picture," said Sentaler, who first learned of her coatbeing worn when someone tagged her brand on social media. "I feelextremely blessed and honoured that she chose to wear my coat duringher Canadian tour."

While seeing Kate in the coat was a surprise, Sentaler had beenquietly hoping the royal might showcase one of her designs.

Her brand had been contacted by someone she later believed wasthe stylist for the duchess, although there was never any officialindication one of her coats was being purchased for Kate.

"We got an email asking 'do you ship to the U.K.' so we thoughtit was a customer and we said yes, of course ... there was nothingthat gave away that it was for Kate or anyone in the BuckinghamPalace," Sentaler explained. "It was only after we kind of put twoand two together, we looked up her name on the Internet and realizedit was Kate Middleton's stylist."

With her brand now being mentioned in global reports about thefashion choices of the duchess, Sentaler hopes the recognition thatcomes with the Kate effect will help her brand as it tries to expandin international markets.

"A lot of retailers that we will be wanting to talk to will nowknow the brand, we won't have to introduce it," she said. "Also,customers are more likely to buy now because they know the brand."

Sentaler isn't the only Canadian brand benefiting from the royaltouch.

Instant brand awareness

Shelley Macdonald, a jewellery designer living in Whitehorse,says earrings she designed were worn by Kate in Yukon, leading to a"significant amount" of orders.

For a Canadian brand in particular, being chosen by Kate is aboon in a wildly competitive international market, said Sentaler.

"It's very hard to be recognized or even be noticed amongst allthe other amazing brands that are out there," she said. "Whensomething like this happens... it just speeds everything up. Sorather than waiting a couple of years for everybody to find outabout your brand, everybody can find out about your brand just bythe duchess herself wearing my coat."

Canadian style expert Jeanne Beker agreed.

"Our designers don't have those international marketing budgetsthat their American and European counterparts have for the mostpart," she explained. "Any time you can get an internationalfigure of that profile and magnitude and calibre strutting somethingCanadian, the whole industry I think is just buoyed."

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