After inviting Donald Trump to their new leather workshop’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, Louis Vuttion faces major backlash from the public and designers within their own brand. 

Louis Vuitton, one of the most renowned luxury brands, has recently opened up a leather workshop in Keene, Texas, with the promise of being able to provide 1,000 American jobs at said workshop. Though we now live in a climate with a lot of political tension where brands feel more of a pressure to be politically aware and take a more liberal business stance, Vuitton invited President Donald Trump to cut the ribbon deeming the new workshop open for business. The chief executive and chairman of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, claimed: “I am not here to judge his types of polices. I have no political role. I am a business person”, in order to justify his and the company’s association with Trump.

LVMH plays a massive part in the fashion industry, owning multiple fashion companies ranging from Marc Jacobs to Rihanna’s fashion and beauty lines. Due to Trump’s involvement with LVMH and the new Louis Vuitton factory, Arnault may have made a choice that could lead to potential business damage. As soon as the images of Trump at the ribbon-cutting ceremony went live, Louis Vuitton and LVMH faced major backlash from the public on Twitter. Multiple people tweeted about boycotting Louis Vuitton for their collaboration with Trump. One user wrote “No authentically fashionable person carries LV. And I felt that way before the Trump pic”. The Instagram account @DietPrada also poked fun at the situation comparing Trump to Miranda Presley, The ‘Devil’ in The Devil wears Prada. 

Louis Vuitton’s own artistic director Nicola Ghesquiére took a shot at Donald Trump on his Instagram after finding out about Aranult’s business choices. Ghesquiére shared the song High Energy by Evelyn Thomas, a popular song in gay dance clubs during the 80s, with the caption “Standing against any political action. I am a fashion designer refusing this association #trumpisajoke #homophobia.” LVMH has yet to comment on Ghesquiére’s response to the brand’s affiliation with Trump. We can expect to hear more about this situation over the next few days as the brand deals with more comments and wider news exposure.

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