Washington Post fashion reporter Robin Givhan's ideological bias has always been evident in her fashion coverage. But today Givhan outdoes herself with a massive Style story that basically warns fashion designers that they should not provide couture for Melania and Ivanka Trump.
Pretending that this is a "complex" problem for the fashion industry, Givhan begins:
The American fashion industry begins a new year faced with a quandary it has never had to consider: Will designers choose to dress the nation’s new first lady?
In the past, regardless of the political party controlling the White House, this has never been a question for Seventh Avenue, particularly when it comes to the wardrobe the first lady wears on Inauguration Day. Because that gown is traditionally enshrined in the National Museum of American History, its designer is instantly written into the history books. It is an honor. But this election cycle, nothing is as it has always been.
President-elect Donald Trump ran a campaign that framed immigrants, minorities, women and Muslims as “other,” inspiring new waves of racism and violence. Whether to associate with him has become a moral question.
Performing during his inauguration, marching in his parade and attending his swearing-in ceremony are all decisions that have caused personal and public soul-searching for people in the public eye.
More than writing about fashion, Givhan is letting the fashion industry know that dressing the First Family is a no-no. Givhan seems to be operating in the same generosity of spirit as those who have attacked actress Nicole Kidman for merely saying that it is time to move past denial and protests and accept that Donald Trump is the next president.
But isn't refusing service to people on the basis of political beliefs wrong? Yes, if you are a Christian baker who has reservations about baking a cake for a gay sedding. But it's different for right-thinking fashion designers, who should refuse to make ball gowns for the Trumps. Givhan explains:
Anyone with disposable income can buy a designer’s wares at retail — and even some red-carpet celebrities choose to do so. Hayden Panettiere purchased a Tom Ford gown for the 2014 Golden Globes. For the 2016 Globes, Bryce Dallas Howard picked up her Jenny Packham gown at Neiman Marcus.
That’s why declining to dress a celebrity is not the equivalent of refusing service. In doing so, designers would in fact be refusing a favor, with all the publicity that goes along with it.
What about patriotism? Should personal feelings and personal satisfaction be put aside out of respect for the symbolism of the first lady? Not necessarily. Protest that grows out of a desire to make the country better, to push it to live up to its ideals, is surely a form of patriotism.
While knocking and misstating Trump's positions, Givhan comments favorably on Kerby Jean-Raymond, who has "made his Pyer Moss label a tool for social protest, commenting on police violence and the Black Lives Matter movement through fashion. "
If you want to talk about a group that seeks to incite unrest, it is Black Lives Matter. Hope Kerby Jean-Raymond hasn't designed a pigs-in-a-blanket original!
Fashion was once concerned with the beautiful. No longer. It is now a subsidiary of the left, and it has its own nforcers such as Ms. Givhan.
Hat Tip: News Busters