Fashion brands are no longer avoiding dressing Melania Trump. Here's why that matters
Natalie Stechyson | CBC News | Posted: January 21, 2025 9:02 PM | Last Updated: January 22
Adam Lippes, Oscar de la Renta, Dior all on display at Donald Trump's inauguration
Sometimes, a hat is just a hat. But not at the inauguration of the U.S. president.
In 2017, after Donald Trump's first inauguration, designer Ralph Lauren faced a boycott for dressing first lady Melania Trump in a pale blue dress and matching jacket.
The hashtag #BoycottRalphLauren started trending on Twitter among people who disagreed with Trump's politics. Other designers like Marc Jacobs said they had no intention to dress Melania. During her husband's four-year term, most of Melania's clothes were reportedly purchased off the rack. Vogue editor Anna Wintour famously denied her a cover story.
On Monday, Melania Trump once again stood next to her husband as he was sworn in as president of the United States. But this time, she wore a custom Adam Lippes coat dress and a wide-brimmed custom Eric Javits hat. And, so far, no boycotts.
Media and commentators have described her looks at the inauguration as chic, dramatic and thoughtful. Some applauded her choices as a shift to promote "American brands and independent labels." In a statement, Lippes said it was an "honour to dress our first lady."
So what changed this time?
As Vogue puts it, designers and the industry can no longer ignore that a significant portion of the U.S. voted for Donald Trump.
"Does this mean that the designers who decide to dress Melania Trump have let go of their values by aligning themselves with her? Not exactly," wrote Vogue writer José Criales-Unzueta in Monday's article.
"Should the industry or the public be surprised if and when Trump is embraced by fashion in a different capacity this time around? Not at all."
A bold choice
The last time a first lady wore a hat to inauguration was in 1993, by Hillary Clinton when Bill Clinton took office. The hat was cadet blue, round with a turned-up brim, and designed by 30-year-old Darcy Creech.
"It projects confidence and strength, not dominance," Creech told the New York Times a few days after the 1993 ceremony.
Not everyone agreed. Deciding to wear the hat that day was "an afterthought that will get almost as much attention as Jacqueline Kennedy's pillbox," wrote Vanity Fair in June of that year. Jacqueline Kennedy also famously wore a pillbox hat for the inauguration of her husband, John F. Kennedy, in 1961.
As the magazine pointed out, people called Clinton's the "chipmunk hat."
Thirty-two years later, a hat is still seen as a bold choice. Melania's hat made its mark throughout the inauguration ceremony: As Trump went to kiss his wife after entering the Capitol Rotunda, the hat left only room for an air kiss. Even outgoing president Joe Biden had to navigate around the hat while trying to talk to her husband on the other side.
It became an immediate meme online, drawing comparisons to the Hamburglar, Carmen Sandiego, Jim Carrey in The Mask, the comic strip Spy vs. Spy and the Pizza Hut logo.
'More conservative values'
An incoming first lady's outfit on inauguration day is frequently scrutinized by fashion experts, supporters and everyday voters who try to find significance in wardrobe choices.
For many, Melania's hat can also be seen as symbolic. Javits told ABC News that the hat he designed represents "a time of some restraint, and it's really sort of a turning point to more conservative values, I think."
"And I think she was thinking of protocol and looking very elegant and very simple in a way," he said. "It still was a very powerful visual message."
Other media have suggested that Melania, Vice President JD Vance's wife, Usha Vance, and Ivanka Trump's inauguration styles signal "MAGA's New Era." The Washington Post wrote that, this time, "more designers have demonstrated a new willingness to play ball" with the Trump administration.
Usha Vance wore an Oscar de la Renta coat, while Ivanka Trump carried a Lady Dior bag.
Some, like Vogue, pointed out this new willingness could also be because the fashion industry can't afford to lose customers right now.
Global sales of personal luxury goods are forecast to shrink in 2025 for the first time since the Great Recession, according to a Bain consultancy study released in November. And in September, consulting group McKinsey & Company warned that New York City's fashion industry was in decline
WATCH | Who was in the audience at Trump's inauguration?