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Aftermultiple magazine covers and overseas visits, countless state dinners and late-night talk show appearances, there is no question that Michelle Obama has had an unusually fruitful relationship with fashion during her time as FirstLady of the United States.
But in the wake of Donald Trump's victory in a highly divisive presidential election, duringwhich most of the fashion community wasvocal in itssupport for Hillary Clinton,MelaniaTrump’s future relationship with fashion — and fashion magazines — remains uncertain.
Vogue editor-in-chiefAnna Wintourwas a dedicated fundraiser for Clinton, as she had been for President Obama, and Vogue backed the Democratic candidatein the magazine’s first-ever political endorsement. Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive, Elle editor-in-chiefRobbie Myers, CFDA chairpersonDiane von Furstenbergand Hearst’s Joanna Coles are just a few of the industry leaders who also supportedClinton.
Melania Trump in ralph lauren in the february 2015 issue of harper's bazaar photo douglas friedman harper's bazaar. Photo: Bazaar
So how will this anti-Trump community interact with America's new First Lady? Will her style be dissected and copied and lauded with the same fervour as Mrs. Obama’s? As with anything Trump-related, prognostication is a challenge. Never before has a president so openly disregarded democratic norms and aligned himself with a racist, xenophobic, misogynist, anti-Semitic and nationalist creed, which fundamentally changes the significance of covering Mrs. Trump’s style.
“While we never comment on future editorial, Vogue has a long, rich history, dating back to Mrs. Helen Taft, of covering America’s FirstLadies, regardless of party affiliation,” said a representative for the title. In addition to Mrs. Taft, Vogue has photographed every FirstLady since Lou Hoover, with the exception of Bess Truman. Hillary Clinton made history when she became the first FirstLady to appear on the cover of the magazine in December 1998. Michelle Obama has since appeared on the cover three times since2009, most recently on the December 2016 cover.
And, as Vogue wrote in its endorsement, it has “also featured Donald Trump [and] his family members Ivana, Marla, Melania and Ivanka — multiple times in our pages.” The magazine featured Mrs. Trump on its cover in February 2005, for which editorsAndréLeon Talley andSally Singertravelled to the Paris Couture shows with her to shop for her wedding dress.
“[Fashion magazines] have a wide variety of readers, so it wouldn't necessarily make sense for them to pick and choose what FirstLady they were going to photograph based solely on politics, necessarily,” says Robin Givhan, The Washington Post’s fashion critic and author of “Michelle: Her First Year As First Lady.”
In Vogue’s case, Givhansees the magazine’s approach as one of chronicling the new and varied occupants of the West Wing. “Is it a question of: are magazines going to photograph her for stories? I would think probably yes, because that’s part of the tradition. But what they might do above and beyond that, I just don’t think that we know.”
Melania Trump covers Vogue in 2005 Photo: Courtesy
Indeed, it seems there is a limit. “We currently have no plans to cover Melania Trump in InStyle,” said Laura Brown, editor-in-chief of InStyle. Mrs. Obama appeared on the cover of its October 2016 issue. Glamour’s Leive, who has also featured Mrs. Obama on the magazine's cover twice, declined to comment, as did Elle’s Robbie Myers.
StyleWatch, InStyle’s sister publication, will cover Mrs. Trump from a style point of view. “If her fashion choices are inspirational, interesting, well-priced, introduce new designers or are in any way newsy, we will share with our audience,” said editor-in-chief Lisa Arbetter.
By all accounts, Mrs. Trumpshops for herself rather than requesting items directly from designers. Whether fashion labelswill be eager to dress her remains to be seen. To date, no brands have issued press releases in a bid to promoteher endorsement of their wares, as is typically the case with public figures and celebrities.
Part of that has to do with lack of opportunity.Mrs. Trump chose not to be an active part of her husband'spresidential bid. Besides aspeech at the Republican National Convention (when she was accused of plagiarising Michelle Obama), another in Philadelphia and a few television interviews, Mrs. Trump has remained out of the public eye.
Anotherfactor beyond the political that could limit the fashion media's coverage of Mrs. Trump is whether or not she uses her wardrobe to promote American labels, as Mrs. Obama has so successfully done, or connect to a broader signficance of a particular occasion.
“There hasn’t necessarily been this indication that she intends to use fashion in that kind of thoughtful way,” says Givhan. For example, outlets from Jezebel to the New York Post were quick to analyse Mrs. Trump’s decision to wear a pussy-bow blouse days after her husband’s lewd “Access Hollywood” comments leaked, but she later said the reference was coincidental.
If Mrs. Trump continues to avoid making statements with her clothes as FirstLady, is that a statementin itself? “It’s a choice, but it’s not an unusual choice,” says Givhan. Throughout most of the 20th century, FirstLady fashion celebrated American manufacturing more than American design aesthetics. “American fashion had some designers. But it was predominately a manufacturing industry and the essence of design was rooted overseas,” she adds.
That began to change with Jacqueline Kennedy, whose love of French designers caused problems for President Kennedy with the influential garment industry unions. But she set a tone for American women with her youthful, modern style and Bill Blass described her as “the greatest pacesetter of our time — without doing anything highly original.”
Both Kennedy and Nancy Reagan came into the White House with a distinctive sense of style, says historian Joan DeJean, author of “The Age of Comfort.” “They were just glamorous women. We’re not in an age of real glamour and that’s not a criticism.” Mrs. Obama arrived as the mother of young girls and it resonated because it reflected the way women want to dress today. “There are ages in fashion when fashion opens more to becomingaccessible to the stages of women’s lives, rather than just making them beautiful and glamorous,” says DeJean. “[Michelle] went along with it and she used that pulpit excellently.”
Givhan says the nation has also been captivated by Mrs. Obama’s fashion because her choices have been dynamic, surprisingand intelligent. “The clothes are interesting because of the context.”
The clothes are also interesting because they are often accessible. A 2010 study that looked at 200 outfits worn by Mrs. Obama the first year after the 2008 election found that the First Lady generated $2.7 billion in value for the brands she wore, from
Jason Wu
to J. Crew. The Duchess of Cambridge — who, like Mrs. Obama has a knack for mixing high and low fashion — has a similar commercial impact, and Newsweek estimated the “Kate Effect” may be worth £1 billion to the UK fashion industry.
Getty Image
By comparison, Mrs. Trump has embraced a role as a co-pilot in Mr Trump’s ostentatious and excess-filled lifestyle. In 2000 she posed nearly naked in a shoot for British GQ, photographed wearing handcuffs and wielding a chrome pistol aboard her husband'sBoeing 727. The customChristian Dior Couturewedding gown she wore in Vogue is estimated to have cost around $100,000.
But whileit would be a challenge for any FirstLady to fill Mrs. Obama'svoid when she leaves, the fashion industry may be forced to accept that Mrs. Trump's style choices now boast a global platform.
“I think that in two or three months [designers will] reach out, because it's fashion,” designerCarolina Herreratold BoF in a recent interview. “You'll see everyone dressing Melania. She's representing the United States.”
Whether Mrs. Trump embraces fashion, and whether the fashion industry embraces her, she will influence the over-60 million people who voted for Mr Trump. As she said to “60 Minutes” on Sunday, “There [are] a lot of responsibilities... I am very strong and tough and confident, and I will listen to myself."
(BoF)
