Louis Vuitton’s artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière calls Donald Trump a ‘joke’

‘I am a fashion designer refusing this association,’ says figure after president’s factory visit

Sarah Jones
Monday 21 October 2019 06:54 EDT
Comments
(Getty
(Getty

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Louis Vuitton’s artistic director has made it clear he doesn't want anything to do with Donald Trump.

On Sunday, Nicolas Ghesquière took to his personal Instagram account to publicly distance himself from the US president, three days after Trump joined the chairman and chief executive of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, to open a new Louis Vuitton leather goods factory in Texas.

LVMH is a luxury goods conglomerate that owns a number of fashion brands including Givenchy, Christian Dior and Fendi.

Ghesquière distanced himself from the highly publicised event on social media, writing: “Standing against any political action. I am a fashion designer refusing this association.”

The designer added a series of hashtags to the post, which featured the cover of the 1984 Evelyn Thomas club hit “High Energy”, including #trumpisajoke and #homophobia.

A spokesman for Louis Vuitton said the house had no comment to make on Ghesquière’s post

The post received praise from many industry figures, including Louis Vuitton’s accessories creative director Camille Miceli, who commented on Ghesquière’s post with clapping hands and heart emojis.

Transgender model Teddy Quinlivan also wrote: “Thank you for standing on the right side of history.”

Actor Indya Moore, Paco Rabanne creative director Julien Dossena, Out Magazine editor-in-chief Phillip Picardi and stylist Rebecca Corbin-Murray were among others who took to the comments section to show their support of the designer.

Ghesquière is not the only one to have taken issue with the luxury brand’s association with Trump.

The president’s appearance at the workshop opening sparked backlash on social media, with Grab Your Wallet, a group that calls on shoppers to boycott businesses associated with the Trump family and administration, adding LVMH to its blacklist.

Donald Trump attended the opening of a new Louis Vuitton factory alongside Chief Executive of LVMH Bernard Arnault, CEO of Louis Vuitton Michael Burke and Alexandre Arnault, and Ivanka Trump (Getty)
Donald Trump attended the opening of a new Louis Vuitton factory alongside Chief Executive of LVMH Bernard Arnault, CEO of Louis Vuitton Michael Burke and Alexandre Arnault, and Ivanka Trump (Getty)

“Creating jobs is not an excuse to ignore morally repugnant behaviour,” Shannon Coulter, one of the movement’s founders told Business of Fashion (BoF) earlier this week.

“Businesses are willing to look the other way in order to work with the Trump administration, but it’s a worrisome trend."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in