Is Fashion Warming to the MAGA Crowd?
A look at which brands took part in the inaugural weekend.
During President Donald Trump’s first term, there was a general sense that the U.S. fashion industry wasn’t falling over itself to dress First Lady Melania Trump. Her stylist, Hervé Pierre, described the cool reception as “not very welcoming” to WWD last November. “That’s no secret,” he added. The well-respected fashion publication reached out to 16 designers at that time to inquire about dressing the first lady; the brands “didn’t race to respond.”
Are things warming up? Perhaps, if the style on display during the inauguration is any indication. As I watched the fashion this weekend, I was less enthused by its obvious messaging (Melania’s scene-stealing, stay-away-from-me hat was quite clear, wasn’t it?). Far more interesting was the role the fashion brands played — from Oscar de la Renta to Reem Acra, Dior, and Givenchy — and how much they were willing to publicly embrace the return of MAGA’s first family. Is it an attempt to court customers in uncertain economic times or get ahead of possible tariffs? We shall see. As fashion followers, I think it’s a good idea to keep tabs on where a company stands and who it is willing to dress.
💭 What did you think of the inauguration weekend fashion? Did a brand’s willingness to dress a public figure change how you feel about it? Click below to share in the comments.
PS: My friend
of penned a piece for Vogue about hope in the face of uncertainty. “Hope is not light or cheerful; it is a disciplined practice and one we need today,” she writes. “Hope requires imagination and dreams. It asks you to choose something better, even when you don’t really know what it looks like.” You can read Marisa’s full piece here.
👑 A new place to discuss royal news
Join me in the Substack chat! We are in early days of experimenting there, but I love how it feels like a group text. Hoping this can be a quick and direct way to discuss royal news as it unfolds, with all the nuance and care that our corner of the internet offers. Last week, we dove into the Vanity Fair cover about the Sussexes and today we are looking at Harry’s legal victory over the publisher of the Sun newspaper. Click below to check it out.
Is Fashion Warming to the MAGA Crowd?
At the top of my Instagram feed over the weekend was a post from Oscar de la Renta, sharing the news of a custom gown it made for the incoming second lady, Usha Vance. It felt like the fashion equivalent of tech CEOs who have been seen very publicly attempting to curry favor with President Donald Trump. Not only did Oscar devote the resources to make a bespoke piece, the brand then publicized it to its 7.5 million followers.
It reframed how I watched the fashion throughout the inauguration weekend, refocusing it away from specific outfits and onto the brands behind the pieces. What companies were willing to dress these MAGA stars? And which ones went the extra step to post about it on social media? Fashion has long been seen as left-leaning, a creative outlet that celebrates the very interests that the Trump administration seeks to curtail. As the second term begins — with a gesture from Elon Musk that the Associated Press said “looked like a Nazi salute” — it feels important to note what companies have availed their ateliers to Trump’s inner circle.