The heartwarming story behind Meghan Markle’s NAACP dress

This weekend, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their first public appearance in a while to accept the NAACP President's Award at the 53rd Annual NAACP Image Awards.

Prince Harry opened his speech with a tribute to Ukraine, and an acknowledgment of his and his wife's different backgrounds.

'Before we begin, we would like to acknowledge the people of Ukraine who urgently need our continued support as a global community. And I also echo the immense gratitude for tonight, both for this award and to this community for welcoming me so warmly. I think it's safe to say that I come from a very different background than my incredible wife. Yet our lives were brought together for a reason. We share a commitment to a life of service, a responsibility to confront injustice, and a belief that the most often overlooked are the most important to listen to,' he said.

For the occasion, Meghan wore a one-shoulder blue ombre gown by black New York Christopher John Rogers, and how she came about wearing it is refreshingly normal. Instead of going through a stylist or her team, the Duchess simply emailed the designer herself, asking if he wanted to collaborate.

CHRISTOPHER JOHN ROGERS Striped jersey maxi dress - £875 at Net-A-Porter
Christopher John Rogers has a special skill for creating beautiful, bold color palettes that really pop. This dress is designed with a rainbow of vibrant stripes and is cut from figure-skimming jersey and has a scooped neckline and maxi hem.

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He told Vogue, 'I was immediately struck by her warmth and just her overall demeanour — her sense of ease and confidence within herself. We quickly touched on this idea of a reveal. She hadn't really stepped out like this in a while'.

This resulted in the gorgeous blue gown, which also featured a thigh slit. 'It's always really exciting being able to use colour, and lots of different shades of the same colour, to create some sort of graphicism, which is signature to me,' Rogers explained.

The Duchess' outfit was of course custom made, but you can purchase the designer's other colourful designs on Net-A-Porter.