Despite that fashion narrative, there was little insight into the choices behind the clothes, nor the messaging she hoped to project with her stylistic choices. The focus was on the garments themselves: their construction; their fit; the “straight”, “sharp” details; and how good the First Lady looked in the clothing.
“I’d imagine it comes down to just what looks good and what she likes,” says stylist Bailey Moon, who served as Dr. Jill Biden’s fashion advisor throughout her term as First Lady, of Melania’s style. “There’s no deeper meaning to it. And to me, there is no strategy. She’s a clothes horse, she likes clothes. When she likes a dress, she likes a dress. It doesn’t matter where it comes from.”
However, in a fraught political context — which has only heightened throughout the first year of Trump’s second term — many people do care where the clothing those in power choose to wear comes from. (Moon included; it’s why he refrains from working with brands that engage directly with this administration.) Fashion is first and foremost a business, but for brands, it’s not as simple as opting in or out. And, experts agree, remaining neutral is near impossible.
Fashion’s statement
At last night’s Kennedy Center premiere, Melania wore a black skirt suit from Dolce & Gabbana, a brand she’s repeatedly turned to throughout her time in the White House, including for her official White House Portrait. The premiere look was not coordinated by the brand. (Dolce & Gabbana declined to comment on account of the designers and CEO being in Miami for a forthcoming exhibition at ICA Miami.) Nicki Minaj, a newly-minted public Trump ally, attended in a look by Schiaparelli. Other Republican figureheads were also in the mix, including RFK Jr., Pete Hegseth and Kelly Loeffler.
Melania’s choice of a buttoned-up skirt suit was notable — particularly in comparison to the glamazon gown she wore in her shoot with von Unwerth. The look aligns with that which the First Lady has projected throughout Trump’s presidency: sharp, a word that was used repeatedly throughout Melania when referencing how the First Lady wanted her garments to look.
When Melania wore Adam Lippes — a lesser known American designer than her usual European go-tos — at the inauguration, onlookers wondered if this was a signal of what was to come from the First Lady’s fashion. Would she promote more American and emerging labels? American manufacturing is, after all, a Trump talking point.
