The Leonor Effect: LMDI Ankle Boots Sold Out Within Hours, While Other Brands That Dressed the Princess Talk About Pride, With No Sales Figures

For years Spain has been measuring the "Letizia effect": the queen wears something and it vanishes from the shelves. Now the same question is being asked about her daughter, Princess Leonor, who turned 21 on 31 October, especially after this year's Princess of Asturias Awards. The brands that dressed her were asked directly. The answers are full of pride and modest on numbers.

Hannibal Laguna White made the burgundy dress Leonor wore to the ceremony at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo, with historic earrings belonging to Queen Sofía. Creative director Sofía Villarroel says the firm learned of the choice during the ceremony itself. She talks about a big echo at home and abroad, interest in the brand and value that goes beyond the commercial. There are no sales figures. When a brand talks about value above the commercial, the reader has a right to ask why the number stays in the drawer.

The clearest proof comes from Galicia's LMDI, run by sisters Mercedes and Carmen Saldívar. On 24 October, during a visit to the village awarded Exemplary Village, Leonor chose their Amandi camel suede ankle boots for the second year running. The model sold out in the first hours, so the brand opened pre-orders. New Instagram followers also arrived, along with messages from relatives, suppliers and clients. Mercedes says that for a small firm that cares about Spanish production this is a great source of pride, and that moves like this give visibility against the big brands.

Monpiel is a family leather firm founded more than thirty years ago, and since 2019 it has been investing in direct online sales. In 2025 Leonor wore their suede jacket on the Exemplary Village visit, and a few weeks later their black patent Lolina strap shoes at the awarding of the Order of the Golden Fleece to Queen Sofía. Rosa Pino, second generation in the firm, also gives no exact figures, but says questions came in about sizes and colours and that international visibility grew.

So does the effect exist? Going by one sold-out model and a string of restrained statements, it does, but it's measurable only at a small brand, where every pair of boots is felt immediately. How often does a public figure here deliberately wear domestic production, and how many domestic brands could withstand that attention? Spain is turning its princess into a shop window for its craftspeople. Whether that's soft power or good marketing depends on who you ask. The numbers, for now, the brands are keeping to themselves.