Ivanka Trump has decided to close down her fashion company. The retail company that specializes in clothing and accessories will now be a thing of the past. This decision was first reported on the New York Post, and employees have already been informed that they will be laid off. An insider told us that things haven’t been easy over the last two years. Since Trump’s eldest daughter decided to join her father as an advisor to the White House, the company has simply stagnated, and it looks like there’s no chance of recovery, at least not for now.
The Trump family has often come under sharp criticism since the 2016 election for allegedly using their position at the White House for their own business interests. Ivanka had formally decided to separate herself from the fashion company back in 2017 as a response to these growing concerns. However, when she won a number of trademarks in China in May, these allegations resurfaced again. The timing of these trademarks was quite suspicious. Ivanka won them barely days after President Trump had pledged to reverse a US ban on ZTE, a Chinese company that would have gone under if it wasn’t for the president’s intervention.
Ivanka said in a statement that when she started this fashion brand no one had any idea how far it would go and how successful it would become. However, she said that after spending 17 months in Washington, she isn’t sure if or when she will be going back to the business. She also added that at the moment her focus will be on the work she’s doing with her father in Washington. Ivanka thanked her partners and employees adding that this is the only fair decision for everyone at this time. Abigail Klem, the president of the Ivanka Trump brand also confirmed the closure. She said that the last few months have been very difficult for the brand.
Ivanka, who is now 36, started her fashion line back in 2007. Although the business first started as a line of jewelry, it had since expanded rapidly into clothing, handbags, and even shoes. However, when her father was elected to office in 2016 things took a turn for the worse. First, major stores including Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus dropped the brand citing “poor performance.” At the time, there were many online campaigns pushing retailers to drop the brand because of the conflict arising from Ivanka’s new position at the White House.
A campaign called “Grab Your Wallet” online has in particular been pushing for retailers and other stores to drop any business relations with the Trump family in response to the controversial decisions made by the administration. For instance, Nordstrom’s decision to drop Ivanka’s brand came barely days after the Trump administration imposed a cross-cutting travel ban on a number of Muslim-majority nations. According to activists who have been running the “Grab Your Wallet” campaign, Ivanka’s latest decision to close down her brand may have been as a result of the increased consumer backlash arising from the controversial zero-tolerance policy on immigration that saw the separation of families at the border.
