Ivanka Trump Wore a Pantsuit by Gabriela Hearst, a Vocal Critic of Donald Trump
Ivanka Trump is no stranger to the fashion faux pas, with perhaps her most egregious sartorial misstep coming in the form of the alleged workers’ rights abuses committed by her now-defunct namesake clothing brand. Less unethical but similarly questionable is Trump’s latest controversial fashion choice, which saw her attending a gala with Donald Trump over the weekend while wearing a designer who has openly criticized her father’s policies.
The gala took place during the G20 Summit in Argentina on Friday, and saw Trump donning an ivory Gabriela Hearst off-the-shoulder silk wool blazer, which retails for $1,995, and matching pants ($995) for the occasion, as CNN reporter Kate Bennett noted in a tweet at the time. The Uruguay-born Hearst has made a habit of speaking out against Donald Trump’s politics and, following his election to the presidency, designed an entire collection inspired by female Democratic leaders like Kamala Harris and Tammy Duckworth. “Before, we were thinking about dressing Hillary, and now it’s like, how do we bring Donald Trump down? Women that put their strength and their qualities in the service of others seemed like a good reference to keep us motivated,” Hearst told Yahoo! in early 2017. Later that year, she also collaborated with Planned Parenthood on her “Ram-Ovaries” sweater design.
Hearst has also refused to lend Trump’s stepmother Melania any of her clothes for free. “If they want to wear the clothes, they can buy the clothes,” was all she would say when asked whether she’d ever dress the First Lady by The Wall Street Journal last year.
Interestingly, a Gabriela Hearst pantsuit was the cause of yet another fashion controversy earlier this year, albeit for entirely different reasons. That time, Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared in a photo shoot for Interview magazine wearing a teal blazer and matching pants by Hearst. Though many of Hearst’s opinions do align with Ocasio-Cortez’s, the then-Congressional candidate was criticized for wearing a $3,500 outfit (if you factor in the Manolo Blahnik heels she was also wearing) while campaigning on a Democratic socialist platform championing income equality and the working class. In response, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that she hadn’t purchased the clothes herself, but had been dressed in them just for the shoot, which, of course. In addition, she vowed to keep “slaying lewks,” regardless of if they were borrowed designer wares or thrift-shop finds.
Trump, for her part, has yet to issue such an all-encompassing response to her own Hearst-related drama.
Related: Did Melania Trump’s State of the Union Suit and Ivanka Trump’s Dress Mean Anything?
