Annette Y Harris is a professional stylist. Before this last election cycle, she chose the best look for her clients based on lifestyle needs, color analysis—normal things. But now there's the Trump factor: Strong reactions from people on both sides of the aisle to all things related to the President-elect of the United States. So as Harris searches for her clients’ perfect blouse or dress, she not only must factor in cut and color, but politics as well. Is her client boycotting Ivanka Trump’s brand because she doesn’t like her father?
Is her client boycotting Ivanka Trump’s brand because she doesn’t like her father?[/pullquote]
For Harris, it all started in November. Before, Ivanka Trump had been a go-to for two reasons: The line’s conservative look works well in DC and has an attractive price point. But during her initial client consultation, an accountant Harris styles balked at the idea. “I brought it up to her,” Harris explains, “She didn’t wanna wake up in the morning and see that tag in her clothing.”
Roxanne Carne, another area stylist, is seeing the same problem. “You get three different responses,” she says, explaining that clients either “look in horror,” don’t care that an item is Ivanka, or—most often—fall in between. “Some people will say, ‘Oh wow, I didn’t think I would ever support the Trumps, but those are really cute shoes.’”
To see where clients fall, Carne and Harris have both added 'political preference' to the on-boarding questionnaire completed before work begins. For Harris, this has been especially helpful as it minimizes risk.
It’s not that she’s afraid clients will pull their business if she recommends the designer, but rather that Harris does a pre-shop where she pulls items clients may like, and this pre-shop takes time and money. Excluding Ivana makes the shop “harder” and “more time-consuming for me,” she says, explaining how much rack-space stores—especially Lord & Taylor—dedicate to Ivanka’s line. “I go out there and I pull tons of clothing...I went shopping , and I’m telling you, everywhere I looked there was an Ivanka piece. And I thought, ‘Are you freaking kidding me?’”
Adding politics to the list of why women wear what they wear makes the job harder, but it’s nothing Harris hasn’t done the past seven years. The issues may have changed, but the habit of letting your heart guide your purchasing isn’t a new one. “We do that,” Harris says, “We do that with animal rights, we do that with environmental-friendly shopping, made in America.”
Carne agrees, comparing her recent need to consider political preference to the anti-fur movement of the 1980’s. Animal rights activists sprayed women wearing fur with red paint in the streets, so people became hesitant to buy it. It’s Carne’s job to pay attention to what matters to her clients and, as a result of the election, that client base now pays attention to brand.
Still, though, she admits this level of awareness around a designer is new. “People are not hung up on identifying labels by sight,” she says, explaining how many Washingtonians don’t readily recognize one designer from another. “If it’s not easily identifiable by having a logo splashed on it, people in general specifically can’t say, ‘Oh, I know that’s a Gucci.’ Our town’s just not built that way.”
DC may not have the reputation of being designer-conscious but it has always been politically-conscious. While none of Harris’ clients work for the government, almost all support the government--even the accountant. One also ran for office recently on the Democratic ticket. If she wore Ivanka and someone recognized the item, Harris says, “it would be an issue. It would be a point of contention, I believe.” Ivanka Trump’s look is mainstream enough that there’s a chance items might not be recognized but, Harris continues, “the challenge is moving forward I think people will be more conscious of it and be aware of some of those pieces from seeing them in the store and so forth...You could be taking a chance.”
As more Republicans move to town January 21st, the politics-averse shopping mentality Harris and Carne see could fade. According to Carne, this is because we change what we care about as social media gives us greater awareness of where the national conscience is. When asked how long the election will influence women’s wardrobes, Carne says, “I would say probably about a year or so.”
That many people moving in or out also changes any business’ client base—regardless of party. But Trump supporters, both Carne and Harris say, approach their wardrobe from a less polarized point of view. The potential is there—multiple designers have refused to dress Melania Trump for the inauguration, which has angered some Trump supporters online—but when it comes to a refusal to wear, according to Carne, “It’s always been Ivanka. She’s been the only one.”
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