Since Monday, the second presidential term of Donald Trump has been causing quite a stir in several sectors, and fashion has come into the radar. While the fashion sector may lean more towards the center-left, it should also prioritize profile. This necessitates being in favor of influential figures.
For the inauguration ceremony, Melania Trump, the First Lady chose a lesser-known designer, Adam Lippes. Melania’s stylist, Hervé Pierre, even highlighted on Women’s Wear Daily that there’s currently a huge interest in dressing the First Lady for the exposure. The current scenario is very different from her previous time in the White House.
Here’s a running list of designers who won’t dress First Lady Melania Trump https://t.co/8KNnvwAJ0r pic.twitter.com/Kx2LSh73Ht
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) March 14, 2017
Eugene Rabkin, StyleZeitgeist magazine editor said, “At the high-revenue level some brands operate at, they cannot afford to make an enemy of Trump.” When Donald Trump was elected for the first time, many well-known designers like – Tom Ford, Zac Posen, Jason Wu and Marc Jacobs stated publicly that they will not dress Melania. As a result of this, Melania Trump opted to wear European designers most of the time during her time in the office. She faced quite a cold shoulder from American designers. While generally, designers die for a chance to dress the First Lady for the publicity and sales that come from it, Melania did not garner the same enthusiasm.
The Women’s Wear Daily recently contacted 16 designers about dressing the Slovenian ex-model and her fashion influence, but none of them responded, as per reports. “I don’t really do that for the good reason that the fashion industry is not very welcoming [of Trump.] That’s no secret. Some are very open-minded and would be able to do something special. But a lot of people are not,” Hervé Pierre stated to Women’s Wear Daily.
Pierre shared an incident that took place after his fashion debut at the White House. He said that while he was shopping at a designer’s store on Madison Avenue in New York City, he was firmly told that he “was not welcome here.” Pierre actively chose not to mention the name of the store and stated that he did not want to “give them this free publicity.”
Melania on Monday with her “personal stylist” Herve Pierre Braillard, who is paid $18,000 a month from Trump’s Save America PAC despite the fact that Melania hasn’t attended a single campaign event and won’t be seen in public with her husband. pic.twitter.com/6sxe5DuYNB
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) July 10, 2024
Just last week, popular individuals revealed their allegiances. The CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault attended Donald Trump’s inauguration with his kids. Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump’s eldest daughter, wore a dress by Dior, which is an LVMH brand. While Usha Vance chose to wear an Oscar de la Renta dress for the inauguration ceremony.
At the pre-inaugural event, Ivanka Trump donned an Oscar de la Renta, and faced quite a backlash as fans saw Ivanka in a custom gown at the candlelight ceremony. Oscar de la Renta’s Instagram posted a picture of Ivanka in a crystal and pearl floral-embroidered off-shoulder dress. She completed the dress with an empire waist with a silver stole. However, not everyone seemed to be impressed. Comments started flooding in, as an X user remarked, “Not the house’s proudest day.” Another commented on their disappointment, “I’ve seen enough today..unfollow.”
