Designers ‘afraid’ of getting on Trump’s wrong side … and still put Melania in that hat
Designers ‘afraid’ of getting on Trump’s wrong side … and still put Melania in that hat
Share:
Fashion industry cosying up to new president over fears his ire – and tariffs – could snip profits, critics claim. Donald Trump’s second presidency has sent shockwaves across industries since Monday – and fashion is no different. If, on the surface at least, the culture around fashion tends to skew centre left, this is is also ultimately a business about making money, and that means keeping the powerful onside.
![[Lauren Cochrane]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/06/Lauren-Cochrane,-L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Major players showed their true colours last week. Among the tech billionaires and surprise celebrities at Trump’s inauguration was Bernard Arnault, the CEO of fashion conglomerate LVMH, with two of his children, Delphine and Alexandre. Trump’s daughter Ivanka, meanwhile, wore LVMH brand Dior, while Usha Vance (wife of JD) went for Oscar de la Renta. Though new first lady Melania wore relatively unknown designer Adam Lippes, her stylist Hervé Pierre told Women’s Wear Daily that more brands are now keen to dress her for the publicity, compared with the last time she was in the White House.
![[The Italian designer Miuccia Prada after a fashion show]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c617458b423e8293d04f784ecd036a4917ab4704/405_0_1262_1577/master/1262.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Eugene Rabkin, editor of StyleZeitgeist magazine, says the Arnaults’ presence at the inauguration speaks volumes. “At the high-revenue level some brands operate at, they cannot afford to make an enemy of Trump,” he argues. But if the big business of fashion is keen to make nice with the new president – partially with the threat of tariffs on luxury European goods coming into the States – some independent brands are more vocally against him.
