Back in 2017, few American designers were willing to make custom pieces for the women in Donald Trump’s orbit — or publicly even acknowledge when Melania or Ivanka Trump showed up in their dresses at official events. (Melania’s stylist and go-to personal designer, Herve Pierre, has said in interviews that he often bought pieces off the rack for her as a result.) But nearly a decade later, fashion is warming up to the Trumps.
In the days leading up to Monday’s inauguration, as the new administration celebrated in Washington, D.C., Ivanka Trump and incoming Second Lady Usha Vance showed up to celebrity events in custom gowns from the New York-based label Oscar de la Renta. Vance wore a custom, strapless velvet gown to the Vice President’s Dinner on Saturday night at the National Gallery of Art, while Ivanka Trump wore an off-the-shoulder crystal and pearl embroidered gown to the Inaugural Candlelight Dinner on Sunday night. Oscar de la Renta’s social channels shared behind-the-scenes images of the making of Ivanka’s ornate gown, as they often do for other custom red carpet designs. Ivanka also wore Oscar de la Renta on Sunday afternoon to a ceremony at Arlington Cemetary, where she showed up in a camel coat with floral appliques.
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Then, on Monday, Vance went with Oscar again for the big event, attending the inauguration ceremony in what the label described as a “custom peony cashmere coat with scarf wrap and complementing tea-length dress” that featured an interesting, tucked-in scarf. (Certainly a sunnier choice than Melania Trump’s severe navy coat and kiss-deflecting hat.)
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While Melania often chose to wear foreign designers during her husband’s first administration, Ivanka wore Oscar de la Renta multiple times during his 2017 inauguration events, as did her children. This all leads to the question: will Oscar de la Renta lose any customers over its embrace of the Trumps? It’s too soon to say, of course, especially given that the label has a long history of dressing First Ladies on both sides of the political spectrum.
The label’s current designers, Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia, were also behind one of the most memorable political fashion moments of last year, creating the deconstructed sleeveless jacket Michelle Obama wore to the Democratic National Convention in August under their independent label, Monse. “We are honored to dress such an inspiring leader,” the label wrote on Instagram at the time.
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Another independent American designer label, Sergio Hudson, is proving popular with the new administration. Usha Vance wore one of the designer’s coats to the Arlington Cemetery ceremony on Sunday. He notably dressed Vice President Kamala Harris multiple times during her time in office, including on Inauguration night in 2021. “It’s beyond an honor as always to dress this amazing trailblazing woman,” the label wrote on Instagram when Harris wore a custom sequin gown in 2023. Vance’s white coat, however, has yet to be posted on the brand’s socials. A source close to the brand said she bought it off the rack.
This post has been updated.
