--- title: Fashion Designer Refuses to Dress Melania Trump description: Designer Sophie Theallet vows not to dress incoming First Lady Melania Trump. And she wants other designers to boycott her, WWD reports. canonical: https://time.com/4576378/melania-trump-sophie-theallet-designer-boycott/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-18T16:38:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:54:39.902Z og:title: This Fashion Designer Refuses to Dress Melania Trump og:description: And she's asking others to join her boycott og:url: https://time.com/4576378/melania-trump-sophie-theallet-designer-boycott/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68fa1a7a1d65351e/6988af0c8e06017263468510/melania-trump-designer-sophie-theallet-boycott.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2881 og:image:height: 1621 og:image:alt: Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump Holds Election Night Event In New York City og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Fashion Designer Refuses to Dress Melania Trump twitter:description: And she's asking others to join her boycott twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68fa1a7a1d65351e/6988af0c8e06017263468510/melania-trump-designer-sophie-theallet-boycott.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Fashion Designer Refuses to Dress Melania Trump > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=75429052-54b3-4a1c-8749-d1560923577b&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Fashion Designer Refusing to Work with Melania Trump [Watch (HLS stream): Fashion Designer Refusing to Work with Melania Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TYHgSisu.m3u8) (0:47)  _Published 2016-11-18. A designer that has helped make first lady Michelle Obama well-known for her high fashion refuses to dress Melania Trump._  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Nov 18, 2016 4:38 PM UTC A designer that has helped make first lady Michelle Obama well-known for her high fashion refuses to dress Melania Trump.  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Nov 18, 2016 4:38 PM UTC Designer Sophie Theallet asked designers not to dress incoming First Lady Melania Trump, [WWD reports](http://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/sophie-theallet-vows-melania-trump-asks-other-designers-to-do-the-same-10708550/). Theallet, who has [dressed](http://nymag.com/thecut/2009/04/michelle%5Fobama%5Fwears%5F2000%5Fsoph.html) First Lady Michelle Obama, sent an email on Thursday afternoon about why she wouldn’t provide attire for the new first lady and asked other designers to follow her lead. It’s unclear if any designers have agreed to support Theallet’s proposed boycott. “As one who celebrates and strives for diversity, individual freedom and respect for all lifestyles, I will not participate in dressing or associating in any way with the next First Lady. The rhetoric of racism, sexism and xenophobia unleashed by her husband’s presidential campaign are incompatible with the shared values we live by,” Theallet wrote in her email, according to WWD. Trump, who did not immediately respond to WWD’s request for comment, worked as a model and appeared on [the cover of American _Vogue_ in 2005 ](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/fashion/melania-trump-the-silent-partner.html)in the dress she wore for her wedding to President-elect Donald Trump. But during her husband’s controversial presidential campaign, Trump’s relationship with fashion seemed to cool. [_Vogue_](http://www.vogue.com/13492873/hillary-clinton-endorsement-president-united-states-democrat/?mbid=social%5Ftwitter) and [a number of influential fashion designers](http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/10/fashion-designers-who-are-hillary-clinton-supporters.html) publicly threw their support behind the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. And, as [the New York _Times_ noted](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/fashion/donald-trump-melania-trump-anna-wintour-fashion.html), many of the outfits Trump donned on the campaign trail — including the white Ralph Lauren Jumpsuit she wore on election night — were purchased off the rack. The first lady’s [fashion choices are watched closely](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/fashion/michelle-obama-first-in-fashion.html), and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. even has [a permanent exhibit dedicated to their sartorial choices](http://americanhistory.si.edu/first-ladies/introduction)**.** But some are [wondering](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/fashion/donald-trump-melania-trump-anna-wintour-fashion.html) how the fashion world will navigate a relationship with the Trumps. If Theallet’s email is any indication, the answer is not well. “I am well aware it is not wise to get involved in politics. That said, as a family-owned company, our bottom line is not just about money. We value our artistic freedom and always humbly seek to contribute to a more humane, conscious and ethical way to create in this world,” Theallet wrote. “Integrity is our only true currency.” \[[_WWD_](http://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/sophie-theallet-vows-melania-trump-asks-other-designers-to-do-the-same-10708550/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4576378/melania-trump-sophie-theallet-designer-boycott/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4576378/melania-trump-sophie-theallet-designer-boycott/"},"headline":"This Fashion Designer Refuses to Dress Melania Trump","datePublished":"2016-11-18T16:38:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T06:54:39.902Z","description":"And she's asking others to join her boycott","url":"https://time.com/4576378/melania-trump-sophie-theallet-designer-boycott/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68fa1a7a1d65351e/6988af0c8e06017263468510/melania-trump-designer-sophie-theallet-boycott.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68fa1a7a1d65351e/6988af0c8e06017263468510/melania-trump-designer-sophie-theallet-boycott.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump Holds Election Night Event In New York City","caption":"Republican president-elect Donald Trump acknowledges the crowd along with his son (L-R) Barron Trump, wife Melania Trump, Jared Kushner and Tiffany Trump during his election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown in the early morning hours of Novembe","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4576378/melania-trump-sophie-theallet-designer-boycott/","name":"This Fashion Designer Refuses to Dress Melania Trump"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Fashion Designer Refusing to Work with Melania Trump","description":"A designer that has helped make first lady Michelle Obama well-known for her high fashion refuses to dress Melania Trump.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/TYHgSisu/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-11-18T22:22:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TYHgSisu.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4576378/melania-trump-sophie-theallet-designer-boycott/","duration":"PT47S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4576378/melania-trump-sophie-theallet-designer-boycott/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```