Fashion Is Back In Politics At The Democratic National Convention

The Democrats seem to be entering a new era, writes Rachel Tashjian, signalled by playful and in-the-know ensembles.

When Michelle Obama took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, she looked, frankly, cool. At the 2016 and 2020 conventions, she wore a subdued blue shift dress and a brown satin top, respectively, her hair both times in a straightened bob. This year, she came with a ponytail of braids, dressed in an appealingly complex top showing off her famously toned arms.

The top, part of a navy suit by the American label Monse, had a wrapped neckline made of the deconstructed lapels of a suit jacket. A little belt was cinched at her waist, its silver loops grabbing the light of her silver earrings. Her fingers were stacked with cascades of David Yurman jewellery. According to the Instagram story of her longtime stylist, Meredith Koop, her shoes were by luxury stiletto king Jimmy Choo.

There was no story behind Obama’s outfit, no special narrative to complement her message. Monse’s founders, Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim, started their label nearly a decade ago after working at Oscar de la Renta, where they are now both co-creative directors. That label has been a mainstay for first ladies – both Republican and Democrat – across the decades, but Monse has always been more playful, with the appeal of sweet-and-sour candy: taking a slightly strange idea, like those wrapped lapels, and turning it sugary. In other words, Obama probably picked it just because it looked awesome – a choice as relatable to everyday Americans who know the pleasure of an evening in a fun outfit as it is distant from the recent state of sartorial affairs in Washington.

Fashion has been a strange bedfellow for politics over the past eight years. During Melania Trump’s time in the White House, the First Lady wore many fantastical luxury clothes – by Gucci, Michael Kors and Dior, as did then-President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump. But whereas Obama had made dressing a political figure a sort of ordination, promoting independent and even obscure labels, Melania Trump’s designer wardrobe made the left-leaning fashion industry reticent. (Much was made of the fact that Ivanka Trump wore Gabriela Hearst, who had spoken about her dashed dreams of dressing Hillary Clinton and hopes to “bring [Donald] Trump down.”)

And while First Lady Jill Biden has worn many designer pieces, from Ralph Lauren and, yes, Oscar de la Renta, and even celebrated the addition of her inauguration wardrobe into the Smithsonian, she has downplayed conversations about her clothes, other than to tout American designers and to re-wear dresses as a show of her commitment to sustainability.

Now, it seems, Democrats are in a new era. Of course, Obama is not a part of the campaign of Vice-President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. But her fashionista moment was one piece of a DNC convention that, so far, has centred fashion to a surprising degree, suggesting that the style Obama championed – playful, expressive and very label-heavy – will play a role in the campaign and, should Harris win, in the White House.

Harris herself, who has mostly been fashion-agnostic, has embraced the new vibe. On Monday, she made a surprise speech in a brown suit. While Harris has somewhat famously worn several suits in that shade, and the cut was mostly indistinguishable from her usual pantsuit silhouettes, this one was by the very hip French brand Chloe, which is undergoing a revival of 2000s hyper-femme boho mania under new creative director Chemena Kamali. Harris also wore Chloe to the state dinner for Kenya this year, suggesting a new allegiance to the high-fashion status quo.

By contrast, Biden re-wore a sparkly Ralph Lauren dress to give her remarks on Monday. While perfectly lovely, the ensemble mostly resisted comment, just as Biden seems to prefer.

Meanwhile, the fashion fever has spread throughout the industry and among campaign figures. Vogue corralled a group of American designers, including Thom Browne, Tory Burch, Sergio Hudson and more, to design made-in-America campaign merch for Harris, whom the magazine officially endorsed within days of President Joe Biden’s decision to step down from the presidential campaign. Gwen Walz, who was praised for her simple blue shift and sweater during her first public campaign event, put on a purple floral dress by Carolina Herrera, another first lady mainstay, on Monday evening, and her husband, who has been feted by Democrat insiders for his folksy wardrobe of Carhartt and buffalo plaid, wore a purple tie to pick up her happy hue.

The industry already has an ally in Ella Emhoff, the daughter of second gentleman (and potential first first gentleman) Doug Emhoff, who has modelled for Balenciaga and Collina Strada, and went viral at the 2021 inauguration for her pairing of a prairie dress by American Batsheva Hay with a sparkly collared plaid coat by Miu Miu. On Monday, she wore a cream sleeveless top and baggy pants from Peter Do’s Helmut Lang with the viral Harris-Walz camo hat. That look sent conservative commentators into a tailspin – even though Ella Emhoff, at age 25, styles herself like many young Americans.

The following night, she went slightly more traditional, in a plaid wool linen suit from the Fall 2024 collection by Thom Browne, who is well-known for his quirking up of American preppy traditions. It was a moment of aesthetic circularity: Obama put Browne on the map when she wore a blue-grey checked satin coat to the 2013 inauguration. Emhoff regularly wears Browne’s clothes, and her status as both an unexpected political icon and a fashion insider have worked as a vessel for Browne’s witty reflections on the American uniform.

Again, the nitty-gritty of these choices tells us little about the people wearing them aside from what makes them feel comfortable, confident. Of course, all of these figures run the risk of appearing out of touch for indulging in designer togs, but they might be betting that accusations of avarice may be worth the image they result in. Still, that in itself is a message: that this is a Democratic Party not hesitant but eager to use the tools of clothing to build an image that it is enjoying itself.

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