A red taffeta ballgown skirt worn with a grey T-shirt declaring “Hillary” in beading on the front and “2016” on the back might not be your typical catwalk combination, but at a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in Manhattan on Tuesday, the worlds of fashion and politics came together – for one night anyway.
The Made for History fashion show and rooftop party at the Spring Studios event space in Tribeca were co-hosted by Vogue editor Anna Wintour and Clinton’s closest aide Huma Abedin, who has been in the spotlight recently after announcing a split with her husband Anthony Weiner following his latest sexting scandal last week.
Young female Clinton workers greeted guests wearing the Made for History merchandise, which can be bought on the Democratic presidential candidate’s website and ranges in price from around $25 for a bandana by Thakoon to a $60 special edition new Marc Jacobs T-shirt and a $75 canvas pouch by Brett Heyman. All proceeds go straight to the Clinton campaign, and 85% of purchases so far have come from first-time donors, according to Wintour.
“The collection is both stylish and distinctive, and unlike the Republican candidate’s unspeakably hideous ties, our collection is made in America by union workers,” announced the Vogue editor, to laughter and applause at the reference to Donald Trump.
Both Wintour and Abedin were dressed in a print of the individual US states by Jason Wu, designer of both of Michelle Obama’s inauguration gowns.
Clinton herself did not attend, but her daughter Chelsea was there.
“I didn’t know I could care any more about politics and who’s running for political office until I became a mother and found that I could,” Chelsea Clinton said. “That surprised me because I grew up spending a lot of times at events like this – not quite like this, not quite as glamorous and maybe with not quite such a spectacular view,” she added, beckoning to the huge floor-to-ceiling windows of the Tribeca venue, showing the Manhattan skyline at sunset.
The fashion show including four black ballerinas strutting the catwalk en pointe in Diane Von Furstenberg T-shirts, a dozen skateboarders high-fiving each other while skating around the room, and Joseph Altuzarra’s glamorous models strutting the catwalk with French bulldogs on a leash.
