Melania Trump Wears American Designer Adam Lippes for Inauguration
First Lady Melania Trump wore an all-American ensemble for Monday’s inaugural ceremony, choosing a navy and ivory ensemble by Adam Lippes and a coordinating hat by Eric Javits.
The American-made outfit was a change of pace for Trump, who routinely wears European designers. Her stylist Herve Pierre orchestrated the top-secret projects with each of the independent U.S.-based designers. The 54-year-old former model and Pierre first teamed up eight years ago and have continued to work together.
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Accustomed to shopping at retail, Pierre coordinated the design process for the Inauguration Day custom looks. He and FLOTUS are said to have a shared sensibility and often favor structural looks that are impeccably designed. Their consultations and fittings are often quick and to the point, due largely to Trump’s certitude from years in fashion, Pierre has said. There is no belaboring multiple choices, he has told WWD in the past.
Trump often dons European designers with Dior, Dolce & Gabbana and Saint Laurent being ones that she has worn in the past few days alone for inaugural-related occasions. In the past, some leading American designers have spoken out publicly about not wanting to dress her, if asked. As a workaround, Pierre routinely shops at retail for Trump’s designer choices. Interestingly, European luxury houses have been increasingly reaching out to dress her as they see it as an opportunity to boost sales and for free publicity, Pierre said last week.
Unlike the internationally established Ralph Lauren, who created the pale blue custom ensemble Trump sported for the 2017 inaugural, the former model chose Lippes, who has been building his namesake business relatively quietly. At a time when fashion is often as much about branding, a designer’s personality and social media, Lippes and Javits have been more under-the-radar about honing their crafts. As was the case with Old Guard designers like Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera — as well as their respective current creative director successors — Lippes is bipartisan about dressing political figures, having suited up Jill Biden in the past.
Lippes was unavailable for an interview Monday, and Javits did not respond immediately to a text seeking his reaction.
Donald Trump and his son Barron also dressed conservatively Monday, by wearing dark overcoats, dark suits, white shirts and ties. Usha Vance stood out in the congregation at Monday’s service, wearing a soft pink belted coat and scarf.
For Inauguration Day, Lippes designed Melania Trump’s tailored navy silk wool coat, coordinating pencil skirt and an ivory silk crepe blouse that were all hand-sewn in New York City. The independent designer is known for his refined and understated sensibility, and borrows from art, architecture and design. In a statement, Lippes said the tradition of the presidential inauguration “embodies the beauty of American democracy and today we had the honor to dress our first lady, Mrs. Melania Trump. Mrs. Trump’s outfit was created by some of America’s finest craftsmen, and I take great pride in showing such work to the world.”
Inaugurations are high-stakes — and often breakout — moments for designers who suit up first ladies. While the weather-induced change of plans for the swearing-in ceremony and the Presidential Parade on Monday should squelch any debates about crowd size, millions will be tuning in and sounding off on social media, online and on live broadcasts of the proceedings. For Trump’s first inauguration, nearly 31 million people watched while even more — 33.8 million people — watched Joe Biden’s, according to Nielsen ratings.
While thousands shivered in the chill in Washington, D.C., Lippes knows how to suit up people against frigid winters, having grown up in Buffalo, N.Y. But extra layers were not needed for FLOTUS, since the swearing-in ceremony was moved indoors to the U.S. Capitol’s Rotunda. The last time that happened was in 1985 for Ronald Reagan’s first inauguration. It’s also been awhile since a first lady has sported a hat to watch her husband take the presidential oath. Hillary Clinton was nearly unrecognizable in 1993, when she bundled up with a dark blue one to match her dark blue coat. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan also chose one in 1989 — an electric blue Adolfo-made Breton hat to match her outfit. Ditto for Patricia Nixon, who went with a black fur hat for her husband Richard’s swearing-in ceremony in 1969. Jackie Kennedy kickstarted the hat initiative in 1961, by choosing a Halston-designed pillbox hat. Lady Bird Johnson wore a red-brimmed hat for her husband Lyndon’s second taking of the oath in 1965.
Javits told WWD last week that creating the hat led to “a bit of cliffhanger” for him and that he had to start from scratch after his initial creation was damaged in transit after being shipped, due to a snowstorm.
Despite being as low-key as he can be, Javits hails from one of New York’s most storied families. His uncle Jacobs served as a U.S. senator for New York from 1957 to 1981, with a two-year stint as New York’s attorney general and a nearly eight-year run as a congressman before that. The sprawling Jacob K. Javits Convention Center near New York City’s Hudson Yards is named in his honor.
However unlikely as it sounds, Lippes earned a degree in psychology before venturing into fashion. His early days were at Ralph Lauren, and then the creative moved on to an eight-year tenure at Oscar de la Renta, where he rose up through the design ranks quickly. He has been building up his namesake company in recent months, with a freestanding store in Palm Beach that debuted a few weeks ago. In August, Marco Probst joined the company bringing experience from a long run at Delvaux, the luxury Belgian handbag-maker, as well as executive posts at Chloé and Hugo Boss.
Interestingly, Lippes dressed Jill Biden for one of her major outings as first lady, when she and the now former President Joe Biden had a private audience with Pope Francis in Rome in 2021. Jill Biden had also donned one of his ensembles to meet Queen Elizabeth II earlier that year. In 2021, Lippes’ annual sales were estimated to be upward of $20 million. A few years ago the New York-based creative also started a side gig with his partner Alexander Farnsworth — the THC company Farnsworth Fine Cannabis.
Lippes has had other brushes with fame before. After an eight-minute appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2007, he sold $500,000 worth of goods in one week. Winfrey had named the designer’s T-shirt as one of her favorite things.
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