New York fashion experts say Kate Middleton is no trendsetter

The Duchess of Cambridge is just a 'style follower' and not a fashion icon, say fashion experts in the Big Apple.

Gregg Andrews, a fashion director at leading US department store chain Nordstrom, said: 'She is stylish, but she is not setting trends, she’s following trends.

'If you take Kate out of the Royal Family, put her on a street in New York, you wouldn’t look at her twice. She’s a beautiful woman, but she blends into a crowd.'

One leading journalist said that Middleton was the very opposite of fashionable and people only notice what she wears because of her royal status.

Elle fashion news director Anne Slowey said: 'Is she a style icon of the likes of a Kate Moss? Absolutely not. Is she in the public eye? Are people going to become obsessed with everything she wears regardless of what it is? Yes.'

According to British newspaper the Daily Mail, Ken Downing, fashion director of department store Neiman Marcus, added: 'Is she iconic at the moment? Time will tell. She's certainly influential. In the position that she's in you can't be simply stunning as she is and not have influence.'