Nina Kharey has been overwhelmed with requests and an outpouring of support after the Duchess of Sussex made a public appearance in a piece from the Calgary designer’s collection on Tuesday.

Kharey recently sent Meghan Markle a sleeveless trench from her Nonie brand following correspondence with the Duchess’ team but she had no idea if Markle would wear it.

“I know that she's been a fan of the line. I had gotten a request she liked the sleeveless trench and wanted it. I raced to get it to her and I’ve been stalking her ever since,” laughed Kharey. “I didn’t know if she had already worn it privately, or if she was going to wear it publicly or what it is or if she's even going to wear it, but today was the day she decided to wear it.”

A seemingly endless number of phone calls and text messages to Kharey, beginning in the early morning hours of Tuesday, confirmed the piece had made its public debut on British royalty.

“I sat up in bed and woke my husband up,” said Kharey. “It was surreal. I couldn’t believe it was happening.”

“You imagine what your moment is going to look like and feel like and that’s exactly what happened.”

Kharey, the daughter of immigrants from India, has her engineering degree but the untimely death of her brother inspired her to pursue her dream of fashion design.

“Engineering was something I was so happy I did. It was something I truly wanted to do,” said Kharey. “It wasn’t until I lost my only brother, my older brother, to violence in the city that I realized one thing I took from my brother’s life was that when he put his mind to something, and wanted something, he found a way to do it whether it was good or bad.”

Kharey’s parents are some of her biggest supporters and they introduced her to clothing manufacturing at a young age.

“When I was growing up and they were working so hard, this is what they were doing,” said Kharey of the work of her parents. “They were making clothes for other people, other designers, and they always told me this isn’t for you though. You learn how to make your own clothes. You learn how to sew. This is not the career that we want for you.”

“They encouraged me to be bigger, to be something more. They came all the way from India and they wanted more for me.”

Kharey says her parents have always been ‘amazing supporters’ but were weary of her decision to pursue a career in fashion. “My dad said ‘I know this industry and I hope you know what you’re doing. I know how hard it is.”

The Calgary-based designer, the mother to a five-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son, made the unconventional fashion industry decision to remain in Calgary for the betterment of her family.

“Doing this in Calgary, it’s hard enough because Calgary, as you can imagine, it’s not a fashion hub,” explained Kharey. “Most people think of moving to at least Toronto but my kids are here, my family is here, I wouldn’t ever want to take them away from their grandparents and cousins so it’s very important for me to stay in Calgary.”

Kharey says the international exposure of Markle’s appearance in her trench will open doors and validates her designs on a world stage.

“Having someone as famous as her, and as influential as her, put her stamp of approval on my line, it’s exactly what I need.”

The designer says the dress worked really well with Markle’s skin tone and she was impressed by how it was accessorized.

Jessie Li, the vice-president and co-founder of Park, has been a fan of Kharey for the better part of a decade and her company has featured the designer’s collections in their Parkluxe showings.

““We found that she was so incredibly talented and had such an incredible point of view at a young age and we were super inspired by her and really drawn to her and wanted to work with her,” said Li.

Li says the exposure from Markle’s appearance in the Nonie piece is a boon to both Kharey’s designs and the local fashion scene.

“This is something that is really huge,” said Li. “It is hard to be a local Canadian designer and try to make it on your own. To have someone like Meghan Markle, who has such an incredible international voice, feature your work is just incredible. I think this is an incredible next step for Nina and I’m so excited, and Park is so excited, to see where she’ll go and how her brand will grow.”

“We don't really see Canadian design on an international stage. Canadians aren't known to be fashionable and this is an incredible way to really showcase who we are and show the world we have incredible talent.”

Of all of the phone calls of support Kharey received on Tuesday, one holds a special place in her heart.

“I think the peak of today was when (my father) called to congratulate me but he couldn’t get the words out because he was crying. That’s the first time I’ve seen my dad cry since my brother’s passing.”

With files from CTV’s Ina Sidhu