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The European empire of luxury fashion appears to be waning. French conglomerate LVMH, which houses Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, and other giants, has reported seven consecutive quarters of declining sales. Yet some American players, seemingly the underdogs of luxury, are bucking the trend.
Labels such as The Row, Coach, and Ralph Lauren have thrived against this backdrop because they have ditched logomania and blatant displays of wealth for craftsmanship, subtlety, and nostalgia. They have recognized that the most coveted styles today are not necessarily the priciest but those that whisper wealth with impeccable tailoring, quality fabrics, and compelling storytelling.
Coach was founded in Manhattan in the early 1940s, when horses and buggies still traversed the city, hence the brand’s emblem. Taking on a classic American ethos, Coach became known for both function and elegance, with supple leather and durable hardware. Coach later became a leader in &#8220;affordable luxury&#8221; during the 1990s, striving to be accessible but well-made, a truer status symbol. Unlike its European counterparts, Coach isn’t trying to be an unattainable luxury. Its price point conveys some value, with the bag’s build and story doing the rest of the work, defining effortless American style.
A great feature of American commercial culture is adaptation, which our capitalist system luckily encourages. If at first you don’t succeed, try again. If you fumble the bag, just stop dumping them in outlet malls. In the 2000s, Coach developed a reputation for over-saturating the market with inventory and opening too many outlet locations, diluting its prestige. BuzzFeed noted in a 2014 <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/sapna/has-coach-become-too-much-of-an-outlet-brand">article</a> titled “How Coach Became Coach Class” that this product strategy made it harder for Coach to “transform into a cool, aspirational lifestyle brand in the U.S.” But Coach is on the up-and-up again, and it has rediscovered its roots.  
Coach successfully rebranded by evoking its 1990s heyday (a whole secondary market exists today just for vintage bags). If you’ve checked out TikTok recently, you might have noticed that young women are trying to find their “whimsy.” After years of being dismissed as somewhat cheap and cringeworthy, Coach is experiencing a revival driven by Gen Z women. Modernity has left many young female professionals burnt out, disillusioned with dating, and digitally overloaded. So, Coach came through with girlhood refreshment: bag charms. It even developed a more environmentally friendly offshoot brand targeting Zoomers, using leftover leather and funky shapes and colors. It called it Coachtopia, reminiscent of the Barbie movies that many Gen Z girls once binged in our youth.
To be sure, the American old money aesthetic is still the fashion zeitgeist. But it’s not Jackie Kennedy that young women imagine when they think of quiet luxury; it’s Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. The blockbuster series &#8220;Love Story&#8221; has dazzled Gen Z, with influencers across the country mimicking Kennedy’s simple neutral ensembles as though they’ve had a fashion epiphany. Kennedy’s style was no fuss or frills, just staples that accentuated her best features and accessories that became her signature: black sunglasses, a tortoise headband, and a black Birkin.
Another American luxury brand that consistently sells despite never being spotted on a SoHo billboard or in paid influencer videos is The Row, the brainchild of the early 2000s it-girls Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. After building a massive media and merchandising empire for pre-teen girls, churning out endless cutesy content and spunky style into the new century, they launched a luxury brand that called back to the 1990s’ relaxed, understated fashion.
In the hit Netflix series &#8220;Emily in Paris,&#8221; main character and marketing extraordinaire Emily Cooper is flummoxed by the intransigence of Muratori, an Italian cashmere label that refuses any external marketing help despite struggling with revenues. Based on the real-life Brunello Cucinelli, the fictional company prides itself on its legendary quality discovered through word-of-mouth, and which it fears formal advertising would compromise. The Row is a contemporary, American version, rejecting the flashy PR and obvious insignias for clothes that speak for themselves and an organic fan base of true believers. It’s the epitome of &#8220;if you know you know,&#8221; an exclusivity that requires not just money but knowledge and interest in real refinement. 
With pieces retailing in the <a href="https://www.therow.com/collections/women-new-arrivals?page=2">thousands</a>, it would be shocking to many how few identifying markers The Row has. But <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/37a13d71-f247-47ba-b1b7-907ce825a70f">according to the twins</a>, it’s the luxe fabrics that are the giveaway for the special clientele who love it. The “90’s bag,” a small <a href="https://www.therow.com/products/90s-bag-tawny-brown-ans">buttery leather pouch</a> with a short strap, was and is still a sensation. With The Row, an American force in the fashion world, you can acquire a capsule wardrobe that withstands the test of time as trends come and go.
But the undisputed king of that genre, or founding father, we should say, is Ralph Lauren. His brand is about American heritage, which means living well as much as dressing well. And nowhere can that be better achieved than in the land of the free. For Ralph Lauren, America is his muse. He captures the pioneering spirit and rugged cowboy culture of the Old West; the scholarly, Aristotelian sensibilities of the Ivy League; and the intrigue and glamour of old Hollywood in one quintessentially American fashion line.
People may collect luxury goods with interlocking C&#8217;s or G’s as part of a race to prove something to their peers. But Ralph Lauren’s clothing doesn’t insist upon validation. Its value is evident in the details: the thoughtfulness of the inspiration, the fabrics that tell the American story from denim to tweed, and the sharp silhouettes that say, “I’m going to relish today.” 
American labels are still at a major disadvantage in the luxury sector, which is dominated by Europeans. But if the latest positive performance from Coach, The Row, and Ralph Lauren means anything, maybe it’s that our secret sauce is, well, meaning.
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Caroline Downey is a columnist and video personality at National Review. She is also a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum and a 2025-2026 Novak fellow with the Fund for American Studies.

GettyImages-2270259107

Europe’s Luxury Giants Are Slipping As American Brands Quietly Take Over

Fashion

Upstream

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
Actress Sarah Paulson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-met-galas-dumbest-political-stunts">stepped</a> onto the Met Gala carpet on the traditional first Monday of May wearing an oversized U.S. dollar eye mask with holes poked into it so she could see if we got her tone-deaf smoke signal. As cult-favorite designer Matières Fécales described it on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX8EF__gk3q/?img_index=2">Instagram</a>: “She is wearing the ‘Blinded by Money’ leather mask and the Destroyed Tulle Debutante Ballgown … A reflection of the greed and corruption that comes with extreme power.”
So, whose greed and corrupt power was being reflected? Paulson’s? Was she blinded by her own oversized dollar? Let’s just say, the message didn’t quite have the intended effect.
“The only way to deliver this statement earnestly would be by not going,” posted one <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX8EF__gk3q/?img_index=2">commenter</a> about Paulson’s rebellion against an event she probably had marked on her calendar for a year and paid <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-much-met-gala-ticket-2026/">$100,000</a> to attend. 
“This is literally the Capitol from ‘The Hunger Games,’” posted one <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX7-TlDiNT9/?img_index=4">Instagram</a> user, with others suggesting a guillotine might have added that special something.
 
<div id="attachment_1089531" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1089531" class="wp-image-1089531 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2274057518-864x576.jpg" alt="US actress Sarah Paulson arrives for the 2026 Met Gala celebrating &quot;Costume Art&quot; at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, on May 4, 2026." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2274057518-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2274057518-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2274057518-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2274057518.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images</div>
Paulson wasn’t the richest person in the room. (That was probably honorary chairman <a href="https://www.thecut.com/article/jeff-bezos-snuck-into-the-met-gala.html">Jeff Bezos</a>, who donated $10 million to the cause from his <a href="https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/">$282 billion</a> coffers.) Maybe the actor was just throwing a tantrum about her own measly <a href="https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/actors/sarah-paulson-net-worth/">$12 million</a> net worth. Showing up in an $8,000 look from a designer whose name translates to “fecal matter” sure set the tone for the rest of the night, as <a href="https://translate.google.com/?hl=en&amp;sl=auto&amp;tl=fr&amp;text=fecal%20matter&amp;op=translate">matière fécale</a> hit the fan in style.
With a few friends or a corporate card, you could reserve a table for <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-much-met-gala-ticket-2026/">$350,000</a>. Maybe fashion houses used to pick up that kind of tab during the Gala’s golden era, but in 2026, with Amazon, Spotify, Meta, OpenAI, and Snapchat shelling out for the best seats, the Met Gala bested last year’s $31 million haul, raking in a record <a href="https://fortune.com/2026/05/05/met-gala-record-42-million-silicon-valley-jeff-bezos/">$42 million</a>. 
Clearly, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/04/lifestyle/met-gala-urine-bottle-protest-targets-jeff-bezos/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social">bottles of fake “urine”</a> hidden inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art ahead of the event, alerting Met staffers to the alleged working conditions of Amazon delivery drivers, where workers are forced to use empty water bottles in lieu of breaks, did nothing to sway revelers.
As stunt perpetrator Everyone Hates Elon posted to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX1iP3CCLL-/?img_index=1">Instagram</a>, “Jeff Bezos&#8217; company Amazon is literally being sued for forcing workers to urinate in bottles. Amazon avoids MILLIONS in tax and Bezos is one of the world&#8217;s richest men. The Met Museum is taking the P*SS by having Jeff honored as their Gala host.”
Moving on from bathroom topics, the dress code for the night was “Fashion As Art,” which was interpreted like a game of telephone where nothing made sense by the end. Some seemingly tried to pull off tributes to <a href="https://x.com/ModernGurlzz/status/2051504522841710620/photo/1">actual works</a> of fine art (Apologies to Georges Seurat, Jackson Pollock, Gustav Klimt, et al.), but others took inspiration from left field. 
<a href="https://variety.com/2026/music/news/bad-bunny-met-gala-old-man-1236737691/">Bad Bunny</a> transformed into a wrinkly, sun-spotted elderly man with a cane. <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1431643/met-gala-2026-cardi-b-has-fever-reveals-shes-sick">Cardi B</a> arrived in an awkwardly lumpy Marc Jacobs look; she should probably get checked out by a doctor. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DX7s8aZhEjt/">Lena Dunham</a> looked as “Famesick” as her latest memoir in blood-red, feathered <a href="https://people.com/lena-dunham-sparkles-over-the-top-sequin-dress-met-gala-2026-11966511">Valentino</a>. 
Simulated nudity was “art” for everyone from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX9qxRgDfJb/?img_index=5">Kendall</a> and Kylie Jenner, whose matching bodices boasted prosthetic nipples, to <a href="https://www.elle.com/fashion/celebrity-style/a71204460/best-naked-dresses-met-gala-2026-photos/">Kim Kardashian</a> in an orange fembot look and Hailey Bieber with a gilded torso. Naked-look dresses were strategically worn by Gigi Hadid, Zoë Kravitz, and Irina Shayk. Celebrated trans model Alex Consani just showed his actual nipples in a see-through corset.
Don’t forget about the alleged abusers flitting about. Katy Perry may have been dressed like she’s qualifying in astronaut fencing for the next Olympics, but her all-white <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/katy-perry-met-gala-2026-stella-mccartney#:~:text=This%20year's%20%E2%80%9CCostume%20Art%E2%80%9D%20theme,representative%20for%20Perry%20told%20Vogue.">Stella McCartney</a> was stained by recent <a href="https://www.complex.com/style/a/abel-shifferaw/katy-perry-astronaut-mask-met-gala-2026">assault accusations by Ruby Rose</a>. All of us rolled our eyes at <a href="https://pagesix.com/2026/05/05/celebrity-news/blake-livelys-met-gala-2026-entourage-post-justin-baldoni-settlement-included-her-family-member/">Blake Lively</a> showing up in frothy sherbet Versace without a care in the world — the same day she settled her attempted two-year-long legal takedown of Justin Baldoni. 
Per Met Gala rules, <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1431657/met-gala-2026-how-beyonce-nicole-kidman-broke-rules-brought-daughters">guests must be 18</a> to walk the carpet. You could frame Beyoncé’s 14-year-old daughter Blue Ivy and Nicole Kidman’s 17-year-old daughter Sunday Rose tagging along with their moms like a dress-up version of Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. But just like they say, “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Good_Happens_After_2_A.M.#:~:text=Nothing%20Good%20Happens%20After%202,to%20you%2C%20please%20give%20today.">nothing good happens after 2 a.m.</a>,” nothing good happens when you’re hanging around <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DX7zFNupFsm/">Sam Smith</a> looking like “<a href="https://genius.com/Sam-smith-and-kim-petras-unholy-lyrics">something unholy</a>” in Christian Cowan. 
If you ignored all of the guests, you might be able to enjoy Broadway star Joshua Henry’s joyful show-opening performance of Whitney Houston’s “<a href="https://youtu.be/hCjBNYbN_1I?t=265">I Wanna Dance With Somebody</a>.” (Look away from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX7oyzMDixR/">Anna Wintour clapping to her own beat</a> like an off-balance flamingo in sunglasses.)
To shed some light on the ballooning opulence of the most elite costume party you’ve never been invited to, the first-ever Met Gala in <a href="https://time.com/6972918/met-gala-history/">1948 cost just $50</a> per ticket and was meant to raise funds for the Costume Institute’s latest annual exhibit. Today, the Gala remains the museum’s <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/departments/the-costume-institute">main cash cow</a>.
But with all the fanfare outside the gallery walls, you might not even realize what treasures await a museumgoer once he walks through the door. Starting May 10, you’re invited to look past the Ozempic waifs of the Gala and feast your eyes upon the “Costume Art” exhibit designed to “<a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/met-gala/met-gala-fashion-exhibit-reclaim-body-types-art-history/6497579/">reclaim the body</a>.”
If, as celebrity gossip journalist Rob Shuter alleges, the jet set didn’t zip out the back door immediately after getting that red-carpet shot, fame-starved glitterati could peruse a collection of fashion for “<a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/met-gala/met-gala-fashion-exhibit-reclaim-body-types-art-history/6497579/">the corpulent body. The disabled body. The pregnant body. The aging body</a>.” You, too, can go look at a high-end designer’s “body-positive” idea of yourself for <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/plan-your-visit?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=39536&amp;mkwid=s&amp;pcrid=610449093567&amp;pmt=&amp;pkw=&amp;pdv=c&amp;slid=&amp;product=&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=14507362235&amp;gbraid=0AAAAADmlGN7Wdo1ZgqV1drBVCivyYUPqi&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwqubPBhBOEiwAzgZX2jpdaTfmR-CCINU2O4WClqHxD8dJ8ovlk3_2elv1YhEhXl90ADha1RoCj18QAvD_BwE">$30</a>.
If the museum has even a shred of artistic sensibility left in its creative department, there will be souvenir keychain bottles of yellow liquid labeled “Met Gala &#8217;26” available in the gift shop for $99 — a smug shout-out to us 99%. 
As <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DUyNTUwF24H/">Chloe Malle</a> finds her footing as Vogue’s new head of editorial, and the Met Gala gets “Bezos-ed,” we wonder how many years this bloated behemoth has left. Should we humanely put her out to pasture, or pull the plug on fashion’s hottest mess?
Livestream co-host and model <a href="https://youtu.be/hCjBNYbN_1I?t=473">Cara Delevingne</a> remarked, “Holy moly, what a show. Aren’t we lucky to witness that?” Lucky isn&#8217;t the word I would choose.

The 2026 Met Gala Celebrating “Costume Art” – Inside

Fake Urine, ‘Famesick’ Celebs, And $100k Tickets: Inside The Grotesque Hypocrisy Of The Met Gala

Jeff Bezos

Met Gala

The Met Gala is always a ridiculous spectacle, but this year may have taken the cake as the absolute worst of the worst.
The theme this year was “Costume Art,” and the dress code was “Fashion is Art.”
Observers noted that one red carpet attendee was being touted with a title that sounded like a “South Park” parody, but instead was 100% real. Aariana Rose Philip arrived and was described as “a black transgender disabled model with quadriplegic cerebral palsy.”
“When people see my mannequin, I want them to see a beautiful, sexy lady,” Philip <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/aariana-rose-philip-2026-met-gala">told</a> Vogue ahead of the event. “I want them to see a supermodel and a legend. I want them to see that disabled and black trans people matter always, and that we should’ve been in these spaces for a long time.”
<div id="attachment_1089497" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1089497" class="size-large wp-image-1089497" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip-864x576.jpg" alt="Aariana Rose Philip" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue</div>
Actress Sarah Paulson is also being criticized for her $1 bill mask, which is supposed to be a criticism of “the 1%.” Her stunt was seen as especially hypocritical considering Paulson’s <a href="https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/actors/sarah-paulson-net-worth/">estimated</a> $12 million net worth.
Even the libs were annoyed by the “American Horror Story” actress’s stunt, with many noting how it cost about $75,000 just to attend the fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Gown designer Matières Fécales <a href="https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a71216914/sarah-paulson-met-gala-tone-deaf/">said</a> of the look: “Fashion is Art and at its most daring, Political. [Paulson] is wearing the ‘Blinded by Money’ leather mask and the Destroyed Tulle Debutante Ballgown. The collection was a reflection of the greed and corruption that comes with extreme power.”
<div id="attachment_1089499" style="width: 859px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1089499" class="size-large wp-image-1089499" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson-849x576.jpg" alt="Sarah Paulson" width="849" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson-849x576.jpg 849w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson-300x204.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson-768x521.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 849px) 100vw, 849px" />Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue</div>
The outfit was compared to the infamous “Tax the Rich” dress that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) wore to the Met Gala in 2021. 
Meanwhile, MTV touted Hunter Schafer, a man who identifies as a woman, as the “Pretttiestt girl in the whole world!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Pretttiestt girl in the whole world!
📍 Hunter Schafer at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MetGala?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MetGala</a> <a href="https://t.co/p4DYlYx07U">pic.twitter.com/p4DYlYx07U</a>
— MTV (@MTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/MTV/status/2051443532078907630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Snow White” actress Rachel Zegler was also at the event, causing a spectacle. She wore a white dress and a blindfold inspired by the painting &#8220;The Execution of Lady Jane Grey&#8221; by Paul Delaroche. Viewers pointed out her strange mannerisms while walking the red carpet, including opening and closing her mouth without making any sounds, which was thought to be symbolic of crying for help.
<div id="attachment_1089501" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1089501" class="size-large wp-image-1089501" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler-864x576.jpg" alt="Rachel Zegler" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Angela Weiss / AFP</div>
Leftists were annoyed that the Met Gala was sponsored by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, but many pointed out that the richest celebrities in the world had no right to call out Bezos for his massive wealth. 
Hundreds of “piss bottles” filled with fake urine were distributed throughout the Met by the British political activist group Everyone Hates Elon. The move sought to highlight allegations that Amazon employees don’t receive adequate bathroom breaks.
“Jeff Bezos’s company Amazon is literally being sued for forcing workers to urinate in bottles,” the group <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX1iP3CCLL-/?img_index=1">shared</a> on Instagram. “Amazon avoids MILLIONS in tax and Bezos is one of the world&#8217;s richest men. The Met Museum is taking the PISS by having Jeff honoured as their Gala host. When they celebrate Trump’s billionaires, let’s ridicule them instead.”

Sarah Paulson

The Met Gala’s Dumbest Political Stunts

Celebrities

Entertainment

Hollywood

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
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The worst part of a new pair of shoes is breaking them in. You basically know you’ll end up with blisters on the back of your feet. It’s going to be great when you get home from work, if you ever do, and flip those bad boys off. Maybe the next time they’ll be comfortable — if you ever muster the will to throw them back on. Let’s face it, these days sneakers can even be considered business casual. Stylish dress shoes just aren’t worth it.
That is, unless you take the advice of President Donald Trump. The man turns 80 in just over two months, and he’s still working what sometimes feels like endless days. I assure you, none of it is in sneakers. He never got the memo about them qualifying as business casual, and if he did, he would have used a Truth Social post to fire whoever wrote it.
A lot of people wonder: How does he do it? <a href="https://youtu.be/fkY7W6kCRY4?si=cmCQuE1WcWmaLt1G">It’s gotta be the shoes</a>.
Thanks to some shoe-leather reporting from the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/style/fashion/trump-florsheim-shoes-tucker-carlson-jd-vance-bessent-448567ab?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqf4AI6VdGE65moXS4NHxB_DydGEbd4CW-TAaqii9rliV-oOiwEJKZ9WWcUT14s%3D&amp;gaa_ts=69cf2b14&amp;gaa_sig=aPJgK3qPf9xdcmiBVIe1uY2o7KaohQ41R-a8FmBhbDat1Xmuj2eKdiXj9WHrDVBfDQBT1a1YUwCg7Eo_qOwyjA%3D%3D">Wall Street Journal</a>, Trump’s secret was revealed. It’s a $145 shoe from Florsheim. 
Nope, the New York billionaire isn’t sporting $1,090 Guccis. He’s rocking a Wisconsin-based shoe brand founded in 1892. And he loves its shoes so much he insists the top men around him are wearing them too. 
At a December meeting with two men who may both be president one day, JD Vance and Marco Rubio, Trump leaned over the desk to alert them both that they had disappointed him.
“Marco, JD, you guys have sh*tty shoes,” Trump said before asking their size and outfitting them with Florsheims. He’s reportedly taken to doing it with many men around him, including the wealthy Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. 
If it’s good enough for the Cabinet, it’s probably good enough for me. But specifically, what shoe is it? 
A visit to the Florsheim website found that nearly all the dress shoes are $145. Trump says you should wear a black shoe. I recently heard Michael Knowles <a href="https://www.florsheim.com/shop/styles/shoes/dress/page0.html?pt_asset=SubMenudress&amp;view=category">order a Daily Wire employee</a> to do the same. And I know from the Kingsmen you wear Oxfords, not brogues; a man doesn’t need an adorned shoe.
So I imagine Trump is outfitting his team with the same black plain-toed Oxford I selected. It came in the mail last week, and let me tell you something: I skipped right past the worst part of a new pair of shoes. On day one, I felt like I’d broken in the leather for years.
I put them on at 7:45 in the morning when I laced them up to leave the house, and found them still on my feet after I got all three of my kids to sleep just after 8:00 at night. I’d like to say they were so comfortable I forgot I was wearing them, but that would be a lie. I couldn’t stop thinking about how good my feet felt. And, just like Trump, I couldn’t stop pushing them on my coworkers. I made two men in my office touch the inside of my shoe; at least one made a purchase on the spot. The next morning, he told me he dreamed about the shoes.
Once you take them off for inspection, it becomes quite clear what’s going on. The inner lining of the shoe is partially lined with a thick, soft padding. Apparently, it’s a proprietary Florsheim material called Suedetec, which is strategically placed inside the shoe to navigate the usual pitfalls of a new shoe.
The certainty that there is no break-in period prompted me to pull the trigger on one of the hardest-to-break-in men’s clothing items: a pair of loafers (still $145) for black-tie occasions.
Most people looking for comfort end up wearing Crocs or Uggs. But in Florsheims, you can dress for comfort and still look like a president. Don’t want to look presidential? Fine, how about imitating the greatest pop star of all time (before he lost his mind)? Yes, that’s right. They’re the same shoes Michael Jackson did his moonwalk in.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlorsheimFriday?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlorsheimFriday</a>: Did you know that Michael Jackson taught himself to dance wearing our shoes and sported them for the rest of his career? <a href="https://t.co/GWBOb9N2dL">pic.twitter.com/GWBOb9N2dL</a>
— Florsheim Shoes (@FlorsheimShoes) <a href="https://twitter.com/FlorsheimShoes/status/875800939118153728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Still not your cup of tea? How about wearing the same shoes as the greatest heroes in American history? Perfect, because Florsheim was the principal manufacturer of shoes for the U.S. military in both World War I and II. The company, founded by a Jewish German immigrant in Chicago, had a promotion that for every pair of shoes it sold, it gave a pair to the military. 
In my first official product review, I’m happy to put my stamp of approval on the official shoe of the Oval Office.

Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Tulsa

I Bought Trump’s Favorite Pair Of Shoes. They May Be The Key To His Success.

Clothes

Donald Trump

The following is an edited transcript from &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1894-not-playing-games-trump-launches-investigation-into-minnesota-libs?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.&#8221;
* * *
Michelle Obama went viral yesterday — on Martin Luther King Day of all days — for comments about shopping habits and race.
The viral description making the rounds, however, reads, &#8220;Michelle Obama says she is mindful to try to avoid white-owned brands&#8230;&#8221;
The question is whether what she actually said matches that description.
Let&#8217;s find out. Watch:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Michelle Obama says she is mindful to try to avoid white-owned brands and others also should be <a href="https://t.co/5MqY5gaxUv">pic.twitter.com/5MqY5gaxUv</a>
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href="https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/2013356579802767412?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @EndWokeness/X.com
At a superficial glance, just hearing her words verbatim, you’d probably have to say the viral description isn’t entirely fair. Nowhere does she explicitly say “don’t shop at white-owned brands.” Nowhere does she say “shop at black-owned brands and not white-owned brands.”
And in defense of Michelle Obama — and I don’t generally defend her — that’s not literally what she said.
She said that if she sees a black-owned brand and she likes their stuff, she’ll choose that brand. But she stops herself. She doesn’t say, “and I won’t buy from anyone else.” She doesn’t say, “I only do it because it’s black-owned.”
But here’s the problem: she injects race into the decision. She’s saying, “If I like their stuff, and if it’s black-owned, then I especially want to buy it.” And when she says, “If you have the money to buy Chanel, you have the money to buy everybody,” she very carefully stops short of finishing the sentence. She doesn’t say “black-owned brands.” She says “everybody.”
What she’s doing is trying to privilege the black-owned brand while avoiding the explicit consequence of that choice. She wants to be a racial identitarian when it comes to the positive act of buying — of supporting a business — but she doesn’t want to be a racial identitarian when it comes to the negative act of not shopping somewhere else.
She never says, “Don’t shop at white brands.” Instead, she says you need to shop at black brands, and everybody needs to shop at black brands — but maybe not less at white brands.
It’s a kind of gobbledygook. And that’s why, ultimately, I think the viral description is basically fair, even if it’s not perfectly precise.
It’s like the IQ bell curve meme. At one end, people say she told people not to shop at white stores. In the middle, it’s “she said to shop at black stores but also shop at white stores.” And at the other end, what she’s really saying is: shop less at white stores. Her minor premise is wrong. She says if you have the money to buy Chanel, you have the money to buy everybody.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1894-not-playing-games-trump-launches-investigation-into-minnesota-libs?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h3>
That’s simply not true. Money is a finite resource. Just because you can afford one expensive brand doesn’t mean you have infinite money. And even if you did have infinite money, you have finite closet space. You have a finite number of dresses you’ll wear. A finite number of days in the week. Where are you going to wear all these clothes?
This is the core problem with diversity ideology. If you privilege one thing, you necessarily disadvantage another. 
This is exactly the problem with affirmative action. Everyone says, “Oh, it’s great, we should help out black people.” And yes, for the vast majority of Americans, that sounds good. Who doesn’t want to help?
But affirmative action in practice means something very concrete. There are a finite number of spots at a university. A finite number of jobs. When you give an advantage to black people simply for being black, you are necessarily disadvantageous to someone else — often white people, or Asian people in the case of college admissions. There is discrimination happening. There is an injustice that comes with that, too.
The same logic applies here. When you say, “I’m going to shop at the black brand,” you are necessarily saying that, at the margin — the last dress that fits in your closet — you are not going to shop at the white brand. You are choosing not to go into that shop, not because you dislike the dress, but because of the race of the person who owns it.
That is discrimination on the basis of race. That’s what Michelle Obama is saying — without saying it. She doesn’t want to go all the way, but there is no other conclusion you can reach from her premises.
This ties directly into why people don’t really talk about Martin Luther King Jr. the same way anymore. Part of it is that the modern Left rejects him because he was too conciliatory and too egalitarian. But the other reason is that the practical politics don’t match the rhetoric.
Dr. King famously said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” 
And yet his successors say that in order to achieve that dream, we need affirmative action, DEI, and diversity ideology. Which, in practice, means judging people — especially white people — by the color of their skin.
Taken to its extreme, it means not shopping at white-owned businesses. And even if you agree with MLK’s premise, you are completely undermining it with these practical consequences.
So no, I don’t begrudge Michelle Obama for shopping at black-owned businesses. That’s fine. But if you’re going to say it, say it with your whole heart. Finish the sentence.
Tell people explicitly: shop at black businesses. Don’t shop at white businesses. Define what counts as ownership — 50% plus one ownership? Board seats? Stakeholders? I don’t know. But say it clearly.
And if you’re not willing to say that, then just buy the dress you like.

2025 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival

Michelle Obama And The Logic Of ‘Mindful’ Shopping

Affirmative Action

Blacks

Business

Corporations

Michael Knowles

Michelle Obama

Opinion

If you’ve been scrolling X lately, you may have noticed that the fashion industry has gone off the rails to a point beyond parody. The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-wool-survive-garments-spun-from-gay-sheep-receive-an-nyc-fashion-debut">latest news</a> out of New York City includes a new fashion line – dubbed “I Wool Survive” – of garments spun from the wool of “gay” sheep.
Gay sheep sweaters. Yes, really.
The world we now live in is like a Babylon Bee article come to life. It’s a place where runway shows become places for celebrating the bizarre, which only helps to prove why brands with the tiniest ounce of sanity are so vital.
Daily Wire host Michael Knowles has always said that proper dress conveys respect – for tradition, for values, for the good of society. And now in an era where clothes are marketed based on how loudly they can signal your – or your sheep’s – identity group, respect is becoming a rare breed.
Introducing the Michael Knowles <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/collections/michael-knowles">collection</a> of luxury sweaters, created by the same New York artisans who craft Michael’s personal wardrobe. Together, they’ve produced a line of knitwear built on a shockingly controversial idea: clothing should be about quality.
So while the fashion world is busy applauding a sweater that was made in partnership with the gay hookup app Grindr, Michael is going in a totally different direction and offering luxurious, well-crafted, American-made sweaters.
Each garment is made from either 100% pure cashmere or 100% fine merino wool. The four sweaters in Michael’s collection are timeless. They’re the kind that look just as at home in an Ivy League library as they do at dinner with your in-laws. These sweaters are the antithesis of disposable fast fashion, and are a far cry from this latest runway spectacle.
If you’re looking for a gift, this collection is an easy win. A great sweater is something a man will keep for years. A novelty garment makes headlines, but a real one lasts forever. These sweaters don’t make a political statement. They simply convey that dressing well has become its own form of rebellion.
The Michael Knowles Collection is available now, exclusively at <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/">The Daily Wire Shop</a>. Four sweaters <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/collections/michael-knowles">on sale for 15% off</a> for Black Friday. All timeless. All knit in America. All wonderful gifts.
Get them at <a href="http://store.dailywire.com">store.dailywire.com</a> today.

Gay Sheep

NYC Has ‘Gay Sheep’ Sweaters. The Michael Knowles Collection Has Dignity.

Daily Wire Shop

“Gay” sheep made their fashion debut on the runway in NYC as the “I Wool Survive” collection premiered, featuring pieces made from the wool of alleged male sexually-oriented sheep.
The event aims to promote a German farmer and his plight to rescue “homosexual” sheep. Michael Stücke, who is gay, oversees a flock of these rescued rams at an organization he dubbed Rainbow Wool. The rescue’s website claims that as many as 8% of rams are sexually oriented toward other males, which leads to them being slaughtered for being non-procreative.
“Sadly, gay rams are often sent to slaughter because they can’t fulfill a farm’s ‘breeding role.’ We rescue them before that happens, giving them a safe home where they can live and love freely,” the Rainbow Wool <a href="https://rainbow-wool.com/">website</a> says, touting their inhabitants as “the world’s first gay flock of sheep.”
The “I Wool Survive” fashion collection was created to advance this cause and bring more attention to the issue. Celebrity designer Michael Schmidt teamed up with the gay dating app, Grindr, to create the collection and host a fashion show at the Altman Building in Manhattan on November 13. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Rainbow Wool | Launch EN" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0doFeaBRtZo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Stücke said in a press release that the 36-piece collection “proves that being gay is part of nature itself.”
“The wool from these rams isn’t just material — it’s a message spun from animals who live freely and are loved,” he added. 
Grindr’s senior vice president of brand marketing, Tristan Pineiro, explained why the company was interested in attaching its name to the collection.
“It’s a great, feel-good story, but there’s also a message at the heart of it,” the marketing exec said, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/fashion/2025/11/20/grindr-fashion-show-gay-sheep-wool/">per</a> The Washington Post. “It’s not just a fluffy story.”
“The sheep are a kind of metaphor for all of us,” Pineiro went on. “Because they’re gay, they get discarded. They get thrown aside because they don’t conform to what they’re supposed to.”

Gay sheep

‘I Wool Survive’: Garments Spun From ‘Gay Sheep’ Receive An NYC Fashion Debut

'I Wool Survive': Garments Spun From 'Gay Sheep' Get An NYC Fashion Debut

Animals

Germany

Homosexuality

LGBT

New York City

Legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani has died at the age of 91.
“With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani,” the company said in a statement.
“In this company, we have always felt like part of a family. Today, with deep emotion, we feel the void left by the one who founded and nurtured this family with vision, passion, and dedication. But it is precisely in his spirit that we, the employees and the family members who have always worked alongside Mr Armani, commit to protecting what he built and to carrying his company forward in his memory with respect, responsibility, and love.”
Armani had missed his last three fashion shows due to being ill, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025/sep/04/giorgio-armani-celebrated-italian-fashion-designer-dies-at-91">per</a> The Guardian, but was slated to attend the company’s 50th anniversary celebration later this month.
Born in 1934 in Piacenza, Italy, Armani launched his fashion career by dressing window displays before shifting into menswear design in the 1960s.
“I got into fashion almost by accident and then it slowly grew in me until it completely absorbed me, stealing my life away,” he said of his career, as the outlet noted.
By 1975, Armani launched his own label, taking the stiffness out of traditional tailoring in favor of more fluid styles that became staples of power dressing in the 1980s. Hollywood celebrities helped make the brand a cultural sensation, with Richard Gere in “American Gigolo” being one famous example.
The Armani brand turned into a global empire with everything from suits to fragrances to haute couture garments. It’s still a major player in the fashion industry today. The company earned $2.7 billion in profits last year, which represented a 5% decrease from the previous year.
Hollywood embraced Armani and now they are mourning him, too. Julia Roberts shared a photo of herself posing with the late designer and added the caption, “A true friend. A Legend,” alongside the broken heart emoji.
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&#8220;Producer Arnon Milchan sent me to the Armani store with a credit card to get a suit for the premiere,&#8221; actor Russell Crowe <a href="https://x.com/russellcrowe/status/1963605279897272583">wrote</a> on X. &#8220;That began a love affair with Armani suits that continues to this day.&#8221;
“Mr Armani has made a deep contribution, to fashion, to design, to popular culture. His energy, vision and finesse has made a mark acknowledged around the globe,” the “Gladiator” star added in the lengthy tribute. “I adored him.”
Spice Girls alum Victoria Beckham said on Instagram stories, &#8220;The fashion world has lost a true legend in Giorgio Armani—a visionary designer whose legacy will live on forever. I feel honored to have called him a friend.&#8221;
Fellow fashion industry great Donatella Versace wrote on Instagram, &#8220;The world lost a giant today. He made history and will be remembered forever.&#8221;

Giorgio Armani

Fashion Designer Giorgio Armani Dies At 91

Death

Julia Roberts

World

Vanity Fair may go ahead with a magazine cover featuring First Lady Melania Trump in the coming months — but only if the feat can be pulled off before all the disgruntled employees walk out the door.
According to a <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/08/24/2025/vanity-fairs-new-cruise-director-will-have-to-choose-between-his-reporters-and-his-friends">report</a> published by Semafor on Sunday, the magazine&#8217;s new global editorial director Mark Guiducci had indicated a desire to put the first lady on the cover — but as The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/media/article-15032959/Vanity-Fair-Melania-Trump-cover.html">reported</a> a day later, his staffers may not be entirely onboard with his plan.
&#8220;I will walk out the motherf***ing door, and half my staff will follow me,&#8221; one editor told the outlet.
Another staffer who did not give a name appeared to be in agreement, adding, &#8220;We are not going to normalize this despot and his wife; we’re just not going to do it. We’re going to stand for what’s right. If I have to work bagging groceries at Trader Joe’s, I’ll do it. If [Guiducci] puts Melania on the cover, half of the editorial staff will walk out, I guarantee it.&#8221;
One employee told The Daily Mail that the outrage was likely to amount to little more than a few loud complaints and protests, saying that it wasn&#8217;t likely many would actually sacrifice their careers to make a political statement about who was on the magazine&#8217;s cover.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
&#8220;It’s all talk. If they put her on the cover, people will protest and gripe about it, but I don’t see anyone quitting such a prestigious job over that. Honestly, there will be people who push back, but it’s ultimately Mark’s decision. He’s the one who will sink or swim over that choice, not the rest of us.&#8221;
The first lady may not mind if she never makes it to the cover, however, if her <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/26/media/vanity-fair-employees-lash-out-over-proposed-melania-trump-cover/?utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">last comments on the subject</a> still stand. When the magazine passed over her for a cover during Trump&#8217;s first administration — despite featuring former First Lady Michelle Obama on several occasions — she brushed off questions about it and said that it wasn&#8217;t important.
&#8220;Look, I’ve been there on the covers — on the cover of Vogue, on the covers of many magazines before,&#8221; Trump said, referencing her days as a model and then as Trump&#8217;s wife prior to him running for president. &#8220;We have so many other important things to do than to be on the cover of any magazine. I think that life would not change for anybody if I’m on the cover.&#8221;

US-VOTE-MELANIA TRUMP

Vanity Fair Floats Melania Cover — If Their Employees Don’t All Quit First

Vanity Fair Floats Melania Cover — If Their Employees Don't All Quit First

magazine

Media

Melania Trump

Politics

Vanity Fair

The 2025 Met Gala will go forward tonight with many A-list celebrities in attendance dressed in their wildest outfits to celebrate this year’s official theme: “Black Dandyism.”
Inspired by Monica Miller’s book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,” the new exhibit will center on black style, especially menswear, from the 18th century to present.
The annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute will continue its longstanding tradition of being an over-the-top extravagant and slightly controversial event for celebrities to show off their fashion. Even celebrity fans often roll their eyes at what seems like a blatant display of wealth.
For example, tickets cost $75,000 each.
But this year, major news outlets like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/style/met-gala-2025-black-dandy-politics.html">The New York Times</a> are painting the Met Gala as a means of “resistance” against the Trump administration, especially since the president ventured into the world of the arts by taking over the Kennedy Center earlier this year.
NYT noted that this year’s show has special “relevance” as it’s “devoted for the first time entirely to designers of color” and “focuses on the way black men have used fashion as a tool of self-actualization, revolution and subversion throughout American history and the black diaspora.”
“This feels way bigger than just fashion,” Louis Pisano, a cultural critic and the writer of the newsletter Discoursted, told the outlet, mentioning how the theme was an intentional choice. “Putting black style front and center sends a real message.”
Co-chairs include Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, ASAP Rocky, Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, and Pharrell Williams. LeBron James is an honorary chair.
“It’s important that we don’t sit this one out,” Pisano said. “Not when black fashion is finally being centered in an institution that has historically excluded it.”
“I’m already bracing for the conservative backlash once they pay attention to it, and that’s why it’s especially important that people show up,” he added.
The outlet noted that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will not be attending the Met Gala this year, and neither will Elon Musk, who last attended in 2022. Most attendees are kept a secret until the event happens.
Wintour said in a statement that “the show was never about politics, not in conception, not now,” but is about  “self-determination, beauty, creativity and holding up a lens to history.”
She did acknowledge, “the Met recognizing and taking seriously the contributions of black designers and the black community in fashion has a heightened meaning in 2025.”

Colman Domingo

Met Gala’s ‘Black Dandyism’ Theme Touted As Act Of ‘Resistance’ Against Trump

Race

U.S.

First Lady <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/melania-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Melania Trump</a> gave a behind-the-scenes look at President Donald Trump’s second inauguration in a <a href="https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/810983/melania-trump-inner-circle-exclusive-interview/">Hello! magazine</a> cover and story, her first magazine cover feature in 16 years.
The <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DFmydH6IpQS/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">digital cover</a> featured a stunning black-and-white image of the first lady wearing a black dress with a black jacket along with the story, “Melania Trump 2.0 – Exclusive photos and insight as she returns as First Lady,&#8221; in which the outlet spoke to three insiders close to Melania.
Throughout the piece there were numerous photos of the first lady’s looks from Trump’s first turn in the White House. There was also a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/president-trump-teases-melania-about-her-attire-says-she-almost-blew-away">black-and-white picture</a> of Melania and son Barron on their way to Trump’s inauguration, where he was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States last month. 
In the photo, the <a href="https://x.com/MELANIAJTRUMP/status/1881355825132023996">first lady wore</a> a custom double-breasted navy coat with a matching boater hat. She completed the look with black leather gloves and matching dark blue suede pumps.
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Two of the photos showed Melania getting dressed in a gorgeous strapless black and pearl-colored floor-length gown with a fitted bodice and black ribbon that wrapped around the entire dress — designed by the first lady’s stylist and designer Herve Pierre for Trump&#8217;s inauguration balls.
Speaking to the outlet, Pierre opened up about working with the first lady and gave a bit of insight about her.
“[When I had] just started to work for Mrs Trump, I was preparing clothes for a fitting and saw her putting shoes in a suitcase,” Pierre said. “I immediately told her that she couldn’t do that and it was my job to do it, and she answered: ‘I always pack myself so I am sure what is in my luggage.’
“She will also make a coffee for you herself,” he added. “So if you have a vision of a woman surrounded by servants, you are wrong.”
Melania’s official photographer Regine Mahaux also shared with the outlet and said, “[Melania&#8217;s] a different person than she was eight years ago and has always been true to herself. This time, it feels like a different energy with new people that the President has surrounded himself with.”
“She’s always in the right place,” Mahaux added. “She’s always behind her husband. He’s in the light; she doesn’t need the light. She’s a very good number two. It’s always her husband first, and I like that; she has strong family values, to be a good wife and to make sure they’re happy.”
The cover story also included an interview with Melania’s interior designer Tham Kannalikham, who has already helped the first lady put Trump&#8217;s stamp on the White House.
“We felt a deep obligation to give the White House the respect it deserves, understanding our role as stewards of this historic home,” the designer said. “Together, we approached this endeavour with a commitment to elevating its design to the highest standards, celebrating American craftsmanship and artistry.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/designer-reveals-behind-the-scenes-details-about-melanias-inauguration-ball-dress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Designer Reveals Behind-The-Scenes Details About Melania’s Inauguration Ball Dress</a>

Melania Trump Gives Behind-The-Scenes Look At Inauguration In Hello! Magazine Cover And Story

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Inauguration

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Fashion designer Herve Pierre revealed some of the behind-the-scenes details about the dress First Lady <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/melania-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Melania Trump</a> wore to the various Inauguration Balls on Monday.
In a post on Tuesday on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DFE40bks7Tr/">Instagram</a>, the designer shared a sketch drawing of the stunning strapless black and pearl-colored floor-length gown Melania wore to the Balls after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/president-trump-teases-melania-about-her-attire-says-she-almost-blew-away" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Donald Trump</a> was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. 
The first lady completed the look with a black choker, which included a diamond brooch with a floral design.
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The message on the sketch drawing read, “Washington Monday January 20th 2025. Inauguration Night Gown designed for First Lady Melania Trump. Herve Pierre.”
He captioned the post, “It was such an honor to create the dress for the First Lady Melania Trump tonight.. I can’t thank her enough … it was a wonderful project, a great collaboration … as always!!!”
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<a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DFE40bks7Tr/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Herve Pierre Creative Director (@herve_pierre_creative_director)</a>
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In a later <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DFE9AJJuOEc/">post</a>, the designer shared the initial drawing of the gown, which he wrote was nothing more than &#8220;a simple scribble with a marker on a piece of paper &#8230;&#8221; It would end up being the focal point for the dress, which included a fitted bodice and black ribbon that wrapped around the entire dress.
In 2017, Melania asked Herve Pierre to create the gown she wore to the Inauguration Balls during President Trump’s first presidency. It was a strapless cream-colored gown with a red trim around the waist. A <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BeIwcHAn801/">year later</a> he shared details about getting to design the first lady&#8217;s dress. 
“A year ago already &#8230; The First Lady gave me the HONOR to design her gown for the inauguration,” Pierre wrote. “What a unique experience it was to collaborate with her &#8230; I shall never forget &#8230; I still pinch myself she chose me !! All my warmest wishes to our First Lady.”
While Melania’s gown stole the night, Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump also made headlines when she stepped out on Monday to the various balls wearing a gorgeous recreation of Givenchy’s haute couture gown designed for Audrey Hepburn in the 1954 film “Sabrina,” <a href="https://pagesix.com/2025/01/21/style/ivanka-trump-wears-gorgeous-white-gown-complete-with-black-floral-patterns-at-donald-trumps-inaugural-ball/?utm_source=instagram&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=pagesix&amp;utm_content=pagesix_feed">Page Six</a> noted.
<a href="https://store.dailywire.com/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-862665 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2-1024x391.png" alt="" width="1024" height="391" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2-1024x391.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2-300x115.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2-768x293.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2-1536x587.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2-2048x782.png 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Ivanka’s strapless fitted black-and-white gown included beautiful embroidered black floral motifs throughout along with a bustle-like overskirt. She completed the look with black opera gloves and black pumps.
A White House representative told the outlet that Ivanka was “honored” to wear the gown and “incredibly grateful [to the] Arnault family and the Givenchy atelier for creating this masterpiece, capturing the original artistry and elegance with remarkable precision and craftsmanship.”
“Audrey Hepburn has long been a personal inspiration to Ivanka,” the rep added. “She views it as a great privilege to honor her legacy in this way, and is incredibly grateful to the team at Givenchy for bringing this moment to life.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/president-trump-teases-melania-about-her-attire-says-she-almost-blew-away" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Trump Teases Melania About Her Attire, Says ‘She Almost Blew Away’</a>

Designer Reveals Behind-The-Scenes Details About Melania’s Inauguration Ball Dress

Designer Reveals Behind-The-Scenes Details About Melania's Inauguration Ball Dress

Ivanka Trump