Ivanka Trump clothing secretly sold under another brand to US customers
The move follows an apparent backlash from consumers
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Your support makes all the difference.When she spoke at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland to rousing applause, Ivanka Trump made sure she was wearing something from her own fashion line.
The following morning - amid headlines celebrating her stylish appearance - Donald Trump's eldest daughter’s $139 pink dress quickly sold out online.
Now, amid a backlash from consumers since her father won the election and the decision by several leading retailers to drop her foreign-made clothes, it has emerged Ms Trump’s clothing is being secretly sold under a different name in US discount stores. This has happened as Ms Trump has emerged as an increasingly important advisor to her father, with her own office inside the White House.
Business of Fashion reported that discount retailer Stein Mart, is selling Ms Trump’s clothing under the name Adrienne Vittadini Studio. The Florida-based chain has stores in 31 states.
The website said US textile product labelling laws allowed the substitution of labels, as long as the company making the substitution is identified on the new label and keeps records for three years.
Susan Scafidi, professor of fashion law at Fordham Law School and founder of the Fashion Law Institute, said: “This is mostly for supply chain tracking reasons.”
G-III, the company that owns the right to manufacture and distribute Ivanka Trump apparel through a licence agreement, admitted to the fashion news site that it sold the relabelled merchandise to Stein Mart without the knowledge of the Ivanka Trump brand. It is not known whether it sold stock to other retailers.
“G-III accepts responsibility for resolving this issue, which occurred without the knowledge or consent of the Ivanka Trump organisation,” the company said in a statement.
“G-III has already begun to take corrective actions, including facilitating the immediate removal of any mistakenly labelled merchandise from its customer. The Ivanka Trump brand continues to grow and remains very strong.”
A number of retailers, including Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, dropped Ms Trump’s clothes, citing poor sales. Mr Trump stirred controversy by commenting on the issue and accusing one of the firms of treating his daughter unfairly.
“My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible,” he said on Twitter.
Despite the claims of Mr Trump and his eldest daughter to begin committed to encouraging US manufactured, the vast majority of Ms Trump’s clothes are produced overseas.
The majority are made in China and Vietnam, two countries under the spotlight for human rights abuses and poor labour conditions.
In recent weeks, Ms Trump has taken up a federal job inside the White House and has emerged as key advisor to her father.
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