Tom Ford & Marc Jacobs say No to dressing Melania Trump
loading...
London - One of the biggest questions currently circulating the designer circuit in the United States remains: "Would you dress Melania Trump?" While some designers were quick to answer the question, the majority have chosen to remain silent, or reflect the question back, although it's clear this is one question that is going nowhere fast.
Tommy Hilfiger was one of the first mainstream US designers to stepped forward say he would dress the future Firsy Lady. "Yes, I would dress Melania...I think Melania is a very beautiful woman and I think any designer should be proud to dress her," said Hilfiger last week at the Angel Ball to WWD. Thom Browne is another designer who has gone on record post-election to say he would dress Melania Trump, saying: "Out of respect for the position of the first lady of our United States, I would be honored to be considered to design for any first lady of the United States."
However, not every designer is as eager. Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs have both insisted that they would not dress Melania. Jacobs revealed to WWD that he has "no interest whatsoever in dressing Melania Trump. Personally I’d rather put my energy into helping out those who will be hurt by [Donald] Trump and his supporters," he added, stating that he has not seen Sophie Theallet open letter calling on other designers to join her in boycotting dressing the future First Lady.
Some designers decisions not to dress Melania Trump remain solely political. However designer turned film director Tom Ford says he made a decision not to dress Melania a number of years ago. "I was asked to dress [Melania Trump] quite a few years ago and I declined," he said to The View. "She’s not necessarily my image." But Ford reasoning behind why the future First Lady will not be wearing his clothes goes even further. "Even had Hillary won, she shouldn’t be wearing my clothes," he continued. "They’re too expensive."
"And I don’t mean that in a bad way. They’re not artificially expensive. It’s how much it costs to make these things. But I think to relate to everybody, you shouldn’t necessarily [wear such expensive clothes]." With an average day dress costing upwards of 3,000 pounds, the US designer has a point, although one host on the View pointed out he once dress Michelle Obama for an event - dinner with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. "That, I thought, was appropriate," he countered. "I live in London, and so that made sense."
But it is perhaps designer Cynthia Rowley who has the best response to the question of dress Melania Trump or not: "In the midst of this heated debate, the question actually seems somewhat irrelevant," she said to WWD. "She can simply purchase whatever she wants, so how can we control it?" Considering that Melania was spotted wearing items from designer labels such as Gucci, Roksanda and Ralph Lauren during Trump's campaign, most of which were bought off the rack or via Net-a-Porter, Rowley has a valid point.