This week it was revealed that Nordstrom has dropped Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand from it’s stores, citing poor sales.
While Ivanka has yet to comment on the situation, both her father, Donald Trump – The President of the United States – and one of his top advisors, Kellyanne Conway, both have.
Nordstrom released a statement outlining that declining sales motivated their decision. “Over the past year, and particularly in the last half of 2016, sales of the brand have steadily declined to the point where it didn’t make good business sense for us to continue with the line for now,” it reads.
However, there’s one slightly odd fact about the whole situation: Ivanka rarely actually wears her own line, instead favouring an array of high-end designers.
While we’re used to seeing designer Victoria Beckham spotted in her own collections from head to toe, knowing that she’s her own best advertisement, Ivanka seems to take a different approach.
Prior to her father’s presidential campaign she was occasionally seen sporting the collection, and she did don two of her own designs at the Republican National Convention, both looks which retail for $158. Since then however it’s been a solid mix of the likes of Carolina Herrera and Oscar de la Renta.
This is could be down to her stepping away from the business to focus on a role within her father’s administration. Yet while her husband Jared Kushner has been sworn in as a senior advisor, at this stage Ivanka has not been appointed in any official capacity other than First Daughter.
Her father Donald Trump however had no qualms commenting on the news, taking to Twitter to slam the retailer for treating his daughter “unfairly” – both from his personal account and his official White House @POTUS account.
The post has been retweeted over 25,000 times, and Democrats have labeled the use of the White House account as “totally inappropriate,” the ABC reports.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that Trump supporters are calling for a boycott of Nordstrom stores.
The President’s involvement has raised ethical concerns over his continued involvement with his various family businesses and now top White House advisor Kellyanne Conway has further fuelled this by blatantly spruiking the line during a TV interview.
In an interview with Fox News, Ms Conway said Ivanka had “developed another fully, unbelievably, entrepreneurial, wildly successful business that bears her name” and urged viewers to buy her products.
“They (Nordstrom) are using her, who’s been a champion for women’s empowerment and women in the workplace, to get to him. So I think people can see through that,” she added.
“Go buy Ivanka’s stuff, Is what I’d say. I hate shopping, I’m going to get some myself today,” she said. “It’s a wonderful line. I own some of it. I’m going to just, I’m going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today everybody. You can find it online.”
Conway’s comments have sparked outrage, with many experts citing it as another clear ethical violation and must be dealt with.
Republican congressman and House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, told the Associated Press that the promotion of Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand was “wrong, wrong, wrong, clearly over the line, unacceptable.”
“It needs to be dealt with,” he added. “There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it.”
