Ivanka Trump Flashed Her Finery On 60 Minutes
In November 2016, four months after the RNC controversy, Ivanka Trump wore the $10,800 “Metropolis Diamond Bangle” from her jewelry line in an appearance on 60 Minutes alongside her family. When host Lesley Stahl asked whether Donald Trump’s polarizing campaign had negatively impacted the Trump brand, Ivanka responded, “I don’t think it matters. This is so much more important. And more serious … That’s the focus” .
Ivanka’s decision to wear the bracelet was not particularly controversial in itself, but the marketing tactics that followed were. After the interview aired, Monica Marder, former vice president of sales for Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry, sent out a “style alert” press release to journalists that stated Ivanka’s “favorite bangle” was available to buy . “Please share this with your clients,” Marder added.
“White House as QVC. It has started,” New York Times reporter Eric Lipton tweeted in response. The next day, Abigail Klem, the former president of the Ivanka Trump brand, told NBC News that the “style alert” email “was sent by a well-intentioned marketing employee … who, like many of us, is still making adjustments post-election.”
The Business Of Ivanka Trump Could Still Live On
For her part, Trump said the decision to close her brand did not have to do with its performance, but was instead based on her desire to remain in Washington, DC, indefinitely. This could be further indication that the family has decided to make politics, not business, its long game.
It might be the end of the road for the current Ivanka Trump brand, but not for her business altogether: Her lawyers will continue to protect the Ivanka Trump name from exploitation, according to the Journal, by continuing to file trademark applications in certain instances.
Although the company would not acknowledge any connection between its closure and #GrabYourWallet, the brand was certainly beleaguered, whether because of all of the negative press or the fact that it was constantly under scrutiny. Supporters are interpreting the news as a sign that such collective action can work on a broad scale, and could signal change on a political level as well.
This is people power at work. This is you using your voices and your hard earned money to push back on extremism. This is you saying no to the hate that the Trump administration embodies. You are #GrabYourWallet and this is your win.
Shannon Coulter
So even if the Ivanka Trump brand name does live on in some other form, there are a whole lot of people watching.
That Same Month The White House Advisor Stepped Out In A $3395 Pantsuit And $675 Heels
Her powder-blue suit was designed by Partow, and featured a slight flare at its sleeves and ankles. The suit jacket and matching pants are now on sale, but once retailed for $2,082 and $1,313 respectively.
For shoes, Trump chose a classic pair of Gianvito Rossi black pumps, which are currently available to purchase for $675.
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Ivanka Trump Is Shutting Down Her Fashion Brand
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Ivanka Trump, President Trumps elder daughter and a top White House adviser, said on Tuesday that she was shutting down her namesake fashion brand more than a year after stepping away from the company amid concerns over how Mr. Trumps family might profit from his presidency.
In a statement, Ms. Trump characterized the move as being driven by a commitment to the work she is doing as part of her fathers administration.
After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, Ms. Trump said, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington, so making this decision now is the only fair outcome for my team and partners.
A spokesman for Ms. Trumps brand said the process of winding down the company would begin immediately, that the brands licensing deals would not be renewed and that its 18 employees would depart in the coming weeks. Existing products will continue to be sold, but no new ones will be added for next spring.
Ms. Trumps decision comes as the Trump administration threatens to escalate its trade dispute with China, where many of her products are manufactured.
This month, Canadas largest full-line department store chain, the Hudsons Bay Company, said it would stop selling Ms. Trumps products.
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The Ivanka Trump fashion brand was kicked to the curb in Canada by the leading department store company there.
Hudsons Bay shoppers can no longer find the brand on the companys website, and by the fall it will be completely gone from its 90 stores, the department store company confirmed to The Post.
The decision to yank the controversial clothing line there have been boycotts against the brand in the US and in Canada for some time was based on its performance, Hudsons Bay said in a statement.
The Toronto-based company also owns Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor.
As part of our regular course of business, we review our merchandise offerings and make appropriate changes, the company said in a statement.
Hudsons Bay informed the Ivanka Trump company of the decision last fall, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The Ivanka Trump company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Over the past year or so, Ivanka Trumps line has been phased out by other department stores and retailers, including Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus.
It appears that Saks Off Fifth also may be phasing out the brand.
The stores website features just Trumps footwear three pairs of black fashion boots and two black winter pumps with 52 to 71 percent discounts.
When asked about the paltry offerings, a spokeswoman said, Each banner makes decisions on its individual merchandise assortment based on brand performance.
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The Relationship Between The Brand And The White House Was Often Unclear
Perhaps thats why the White House felt the need to publicly promote the brand so much, sometimes at the expense of political ethics. Almost as soon as Donald Trump took office, the White Houses more-than-friendly association with Trump Organization brands was pulled into debate. On February 8, 2017, in response to the news that Nordstrom would drop Ivankas label , the president tweeted his anger at the department store.
My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by . She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!
At the time, White House press secretary Sean Spicer claimed that the outburst was due to Trumps desire to stand up for his daughter, but to many others, it was a clear abuse of power.
Things didnt get better when, the next day, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway spoke about the Nordstrom controversy on Fox & Friends and said of Ivanka Trump clothing: Its a wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully Im going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.
This, however, may have violated a federal ethics law that states that an employee shall not use his public office for his own private gain, for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise, or for the private gain of friends, relatives. Conway later received counseling on the subject and apologized to President Trump.
She’s Been Involved In Some Shameless Self
After Donald Trump was confirmed as the Republican nominee in 2016, Ivanka Trump seized her Republican National Convention appearance as an opportunity to publicize her own business interests while touching on American labor laws and women in the workforce.
Capitalizing on her own work, Ivanka wore the baby pink “Ivanka Trump Sleeveless Studded Sheath Dress” from her fashion line. The following day, a tweet was posted on her verified Twitter account that said, “Shop Ivanka’s look from her #RNC speech,” followed by a link to the dress on the Macy’s website. It was an affiliate link, which indicated Ivanka could have earned additional commission from any purchases made. The $138 dress promptly sold out at both Macy’s and Nordstrom.
Some saw the outfit choice and the subsequent tweet as shameless self-promotion. And despite Ivanka’s mention of American labor, the Macy’s site listed her dress as “imported” .
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Ivanka Trump Does Not Always ‘buy American’
In February 2017, Donald Trump gave his first address to Congress. The speech pushed the slogan “Buy American, Hire American” and focused on encouraging Americans to buy American products. Ivanka Trump did not appear to have known the contents of the speech in advance, because she wore a fuschia cocktail dress by French designer Roland Mouret to the event. A representative for the designer told The Independent that the dress cost $1,868 and was made in the United Kingdom.
Many onlookers pointed out the irony and hypocrisy of Ivanka’s dress, given her father’s message. Members of the public also questioned why the First Daughter was not treated the same as former First Lady Michelle Obama, noting the off-the-shoulder cut of Ivanka’s dress. “Remember all that crap about Michelle Obama showing her arms and if it was appropriate? Well, behold Ivanka and her shoulders,” one Twitter user wrote .
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First daughter and White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump is shutting down her eponymous fashion company. The brands remaining products will continue to be sold at stores like Lord & Taylor, Dillards, Bloomingdales, and Amazon, but it will let its current licensing agreements expire.
Trump has not been involved with the brand since stepping into her White House role in January 2017 . Previously, she was the executive vice president of acquisitions and development in the Trump Organization.
After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington, Trump said Tuesday in a statement. So making this decision now is the only fair outcome for my team and partners.
The companys 18 employees have all been informed, according to the Wall Street Journal Page Six adds that the staff will be laid off rather than transferred to a different part of the Trump Organization.
Right around the time Donald Trump won the presidency, the label became been the target of a major boycott, and participants are now celebrating the shuttering of the brand as proof that anti-Trump resistance works.
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On September 3 She Made A Statement In A $1650 Dress With Fanned Sleeves
Ivanka wore the Johanna Ortiz dress while visiting female police cadets at General Santander National Police Academy in Bogotá, Colombia.
However, she had a fashion mishap while posing alongside the country’s vice president and minister of national defense her sleeves flared up in the wind, creating giant circles of fabric.
The Label Didnt Have A Great Record With Labor Practices
Conflicts of interest werent the only publicity problem the Ivanka Trump label faced. Like her fathers necktie collection, the Ivanka Trump label had licensing deals with subcontractors in Chinese factories, and in 2016, workers at the Xuankai Footwear factory said they were required to work shifts up to 16 hours, were paid illegally low overtime rates, and systematically dealt with delayed payments. One worker quit after just a few hours at the factory out of fear.
In 2017, the line came under fire when three activists investigating Huajian Group, the Chinese factory where Ivanka Trump shoes were made, were detained by the Chinese government. China Labor Watch, the group the activists worked for, wrote a letter to Trump pleading for her help. Klem, the company president, issued a statement to Racked saying that the label hadnt worked with the factory in question in more than three months because it only worked with factories that are required to operate within strict social compliance regulations. Klem, however, did not mention the jailed activists, who were freed in June.
And there were controversies within the company itself. In 2016, Marissa Velez Kraxberger, who had served as the brands creative director for two years, to call out Ivanka Trumps hypocrisy for advocating for paid maternity leave when her own company didnt offer any.
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Her Silver Dress Sparked Controversy Twice
In January 2017, Ivanka Trump posted a photo on of herself wearing an iridescent silver gown two days after Donald Trump had announced his “Muslim ban” executive order. Ivanka’s dress, which was designed by Carolina Herrera and cost $5,000, drew criticism because it highlighted Ivanka’s lavish lifestyle at a time when racism and human rights were central to the cultural conversation, per Glamour.
When the Trump administration came under fire for the separation of children from their parents at the Mexican border in 2018, photos circulated of immigrant kids using sheets of silver foil as blankets. The photo of Ivanka’s silver dress resurfaced , again as a reflection of the real disparity between those in power and those affected by their policies. Multiple Twitter users, including comedian and writer Orli Matlow, posted split-screen photos of Ivanka’s dress and the detained immigrant children. “Who wore it better: Children detained in McAllen, Texas or Ivanka Trump,” Matlow wrote.
Ivanka Trump’s Most Inappropriate Outfits Ever
“My top three style tips for women at work are context, modesty, and femininity,” Ivanka Trump said in a 2010 Forbes interview. “Understand what is appropriate for your industry and in terms of how much skin is being shown.” Ivanka was a fashion model and a fashion designer before she was the United States’ First Daughter. But when her father began involving himself in politics, the context surrounding Ivanka’s clothes shifted and made way for several fashion faux pas.
Once Donald Trump entered the White House, the Ivanka Trump brand fell into the crosshairs of a storm of controversies, including ethical concerns and conflict-of-interest accusations. Within weeks of the 45th president’s inauguration, Nordstrom announced it would pull Ivanka Trump clothes, shoes, and accessories from its shelves, citing poor performance. Discount stores like T.J. Maxx soon followed suit. Fashion has continued to be a contentious subject in the conversation surrounding the First Daughter, particularly when she has worn outfits that have been deemed inappropriate or insensitive to political events that have directly involved the Trump administration.
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A Crack In The Ivanka Trump Brand
The presidents daughter is closing her ailing fashion linefurther proof that nothing is apolitical in the Trump era.
On Tuesday night, a visit to the website of the Ivanka Trump brand turned up a sharply cut floral dress and a pair of suede sandals on broad, three-inch heels. Bring on the heat unspooled in elegant italics across the sites landing page. By then, the message had acquired an awkward dual meaning. Earlier in the day, Ivanka Trump had acknowledged that she would be closing her apparel-and-accessories business, IT Collection, and laying off its employees. Trump publicly blamed her hectic schedule as an adviser to her father, President Donald Trump: After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, she said, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington. But the closure also comes at the end of an undeniably bad run for the fashion line, during which Nordstrom and other retailers stopped selling it, citing poor performance. In the end, it seemed, Ivanka Trump could not handle the heat.
As More Americans Take An I Hate All Things Trump Attitude To The Candidates Business Empire The Backlash Is Spreading To His Daughters Brand
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WASHINGTONDonald Trumps presidential campaign hasnt exactly enhanced his brand. Over the last year, bookings for Trump hotels in New York, Las Vegas and Chicago plummeted 58 per cent. Foot traffic to Trump properties fell 17 per cent year-over-year in March, April and June. The National Hispanic Media Coalition asked businesses in July to cut ties with the Republican presidential nominee. Protesters cried boycott outside the Wednesday grand opening of the new Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
But his eldest daughters retail ventures appeared to dodge the ire until the conversation shifted to his treatment of women. Now thousands of social media users are urging others to avoid stores that carry her namesake goods. Even some shoppers who havent seen the hashtags #GrabYourWallet, #BoycottIvanka say theyre spurning her office-wear.
I just dont want that name in my closet, explained 31-year-old graphic designer Jessie Newman, as she shopped at T.J. Maxx in Washington, D.C.
Ivanka Trump, 34, has painted herself a champion of breadwinning mothers and harnessed Trumps White House bid to buoy that image. As she rallied to close the gender pay gap during her speech at the Republican National Convention in July, she sported one of her own designs, a $157 pink dress. The next morning, she linked to the look on Twitter.
That does not bode well for Ivankas clothing line.
I just cant do it, she said. I cant bring myself to buy it.
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