Yes, it feels a bit weird writing Prince George of Cambridge and fashion icon in the same sentence when the royal baby is less than a week old but that’s the conversation that’s already started around the world.

In fact, some are actually speculating that the birth of George could actually be bad news for the fashion industry – because he’s a boy.  “[If] Prince [George] was a princess, it would have created a greater impact on kids apparel, “ Marshal Cohen, Chief Industry Analyst at NPD Group, Inc, said this week according to CNN. ‘In the U.S., girls apparel makes up 53% of the sales even though they don’t make up 53% of the kids population. The girls market for apparel is 10% greater than the boys market in dollar volume.”

Cohen points out that the fashion world has hugely benefited from the so-called Kate Effect – whereby designers who the Duchess endorses see a surge in sales. It’s certainly true that since Kate wore that Issa dress to announce her engagement, the brand has opened new stores internationally – most recently in Japan – and Reiss MD has admitted that whenever Kate is spotted wearing their dresses the phones start ringing off the hook. 

Still, it seems a little early to dismiss Prince George as a fashion icon just because of his gender. After all, at just three days old he was already making his own impact on the retail world – causing a stampede for the swaddle his stylish mum had chosen to wrap him in. The makers of the £32 Aden + Anais bird-patterned “Jungle Jam” blanket which George left the hospital in sold out throughout the UK. And GH Hurt and Company who made the £45 blanket he made his first public appearance in also reported a surge in interest.

So it seems just as there were 10% of new parents in Britain waiting to name their new baby until the Royal birth so they could bestow it with the same title (yes, really!) Prince George will – like his mother – become one of the world’s most watched babies. Something unisex kidswear designers will no doubt be desperate to capitalize on…