Ding Dong, The Kitsch Is Dead: Ivanka Trump Clothing Just Folded
We have to hand it to her, Ivanka Trump is always very well-dressed. Image by Getty Images
See you in hell, pastel cardigans manufactured in Ethiopian sweatshops.
Ivanka Trump’s namesake clothing brand will shutter, Trump said on Tuesday.
The first daughter and advisor to the president issued a statement on the closing of the brand, which has faced intense criticism for, among other things, its treatment of workers and manufacturing in third-world countries, since Trump assumed a role in politics. “When we first started this brand, no one could have predicted the success that we would achieve,” Trump stated. “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, so making this decision now is the only fair outcome for my team and partners.”
Trump’s wording is particularly of note because “fair” is what she has long been accused of not being — former employees noted that Trump, who has touted her appeal for working mothers since the 2016 campaign trail, provided scant benefits for working mothers within her own organization.
In a devastating feature a year ago in the Washington Post, reporters found that Trump’s clothing factories treat workers inhumanely, even considering already low industry standards. And major companies from DSW to Neiman Marcus to Hudson Bay have dropped Trump’s fashion line entirely — though whether due to poor sales or to making headlines isn’t easy to parse from the companies’ statements.
The company’s closure comes on the heels (see what we did there?) of a scathing statement from the Democratic National Committee which labeled Trump a “hypocrite” and “faux-feminism” for claiming to support American manufacturing and women’s rights while her company practiced the opposite.
And if you’re looking to support an ethical, American-made fashion brand that just happens to be run by a Jewish woman designer, here’s Mara Hoffman’s gorgeous line.
Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at Singer@forward.com or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny
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