A bold fashion statement. Zac Posen explained in a new interview with The Daily Beast that he chooses not to dress Melania and Ivanka Trump because he is aware of his “political responsibility” as a designer.
“I think everybody has a political responsibility,” the 36-year-old designer said in the interview posted on Thursday, March 9. “Everybody has a voice, whether in fashion or any field.”
The Project Runway judge, who has dressed both women in the past, told the site that his decision stems largely in part from the policies of the current administration, many which he does not agree with.
“[I have] no current plans to dress members of the first family,” he said. “Right now, I’m staying away from bringing my brand into politics. There are issues that are being questioned that are fundamentally upsetting to me, deeply: LGBT rights, immigration, funding for the arts, Planned Parenthood and women’s rights. These are just issues that are very close to my heart, and I use my own private voice and funds to fight for them and in support of them. I think it’s important to use your voice. I think that every brand and person has a right to be vocal.”
Added the designer, who has dressed A-listers such as Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, Gwyneth Paltrow and Oprah Winfrey in the past: “I’m very upset with the state of affairs right now. I always try to be optimistic. I think that freedom will prevail. And I don’t dictate who buys my clothing in a store.”
Other big-name designers who have similarly declined to dress members of the Trump family in protest against President Donald Trump’s controversial policies include Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Sophie Theallet and Phillip Lim.
One outspoken fashion icon, Karl Lagerfeld, made headlines last month for criticizing the mixing of fashion and politics in today’s social climate.
“I knew Trump before, when he was not in politics,” the 83-year-old German designer told the WSJ Magazine. “I’m not American, but he’s a democratically elected president of America, so people have to deal with it.” Added the Chanel designer, “Fashion people are fashion, they are not politics.”
