More than a week after Donald Trump became President-elect, protests have been sparked worldwide and the fashion industry has been sparsely involved.
Sophie Theallet was the first to encourage the fashion industry to boycott dressing Trump’s wife, after years of dressing Michelle Obama. She quotes in a personal statement that she “will not participate in dressing or associating in any way with the next First Lady” because she is “one who celebrates and strives for diversity, individual freedom, and respect for all lifestyles.”
Since her statement, which gained international attention, Jeremy Scott was next to speak out on what Trump’s election meant for the industry. Scott wants to give Trump the “benefit of the doubt,” he told Vanity Fair.
Publications have also taken a stance on the new first lady’s coverage. Fashionista (based in New York), plans on meticulously writing about Mrs. Trump. The site believes that their purpose is not to “catalogue” Mrs. Trump and that they will carry on to monitor her fashion moments.
InStyle’s editor-in-chief, Laura Brown, claims that the publication: “Currently has no plans to cover Melania Trump in InStyle.”
Let’s not forget how Vogue US’ editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour continuously wrote about Hillary Clinton’s fashion moments, and even endorsed Clinton for president for the first time in the publication’s history.
These recent roles in dressing and writing about the new controversial first lady are shaping how the fashion industry will be impacted by- and impact- the new administration. So far, there has been a noticeable absence of press releases from designers and brands that she is even wearing their clothes. This is likely because of her lack of presence throughout her husband’s presidential campaign, except at the Republican National Convention where she was accused of plagiarizing Michelle Obama.
It seems that the fashion industry clearly supported Hillary Clinton, but won’t be able to ignore the presence of America’s future first lady now that she has a global platform.
Caroline Herrera told the Business of Fashion in a recent interview that “everyone will dress Melania in two or three months; she’s representing the United States.”
This could amount to enormous change to the fashion community, depending on the designers she chooses to wear and promote. The fashion world is currently tiptoeing around Melania Trump as she is to be part of a presidency heavily aligned with racism and national creed. Like never before, the fundamentals of fashion are changing their significance in politics, and covering Mrs. Trump’s style is the first step.
