--- description: Tommy Hilfiger told WWD that designers should consider it an honor to dress the incoming first lady and first daughter, Ivanka Trump. title: This Legendary Designer Will Be 'Proud' to Dress Melania Trump image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfb5a413344e45a0/6988af802dce01678c9eb866/melania-trump-tommy-hilfiger-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [motto](/tag/motto/) ## motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Legendary Designer Will Be 'Proud' to Dress Melania Trump  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 22, 2016 9:27 PM CUT  Melania Trump is pictured at the opening of the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, 10/26/16\. (Photo by Fred Watkins/ABC via Getty Images) MELANIA TRUMP Melania Trump is pictured at the opening of the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, 10/26/16\. (Photo by Fred Watkins/ABC via Getty Images) MELANIA TRUMPFred Watkins—ABC via Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 22, 2016 9:27 PM CUT Just [days after Sophie Theallet called](http://motto.time.com/4576378/melania-trump-sophie-theallet-designer-boycott/ "undefined") for designers to refrain from dressing Melania Trump, Tommy Hilfiger [told WWD](http://wwd.com/eye/people/tommy-hilfiger-responds-to-sophie-theallet-melania-trump-10711252/ "undefined") that designers should consider it an honor to dress the incoming first lady and first daughter, Ivanka Trump. “I think Melania is a very beautiful woman and I think any designer should be proud to dress her,” the American designer told WWD. “Ivanka is equally as beautiful and smart, although she wears her own clothes. I don’t think people should become political about it. Everyone was very happy to dress Michelle \[Obama\] as well. I think they look great in the clothes. You’re not gonna get much more beautiful than Ivanka or Melania.” Theallet wrote [an open letter last week](http://motto.time.com/4576378/melania-trump-sophie-theallet-designer-boycott/ "undefined") explaining why she wouldn’t dress Trump and called on other designers to follow her lead. “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,” she wrote, according to WWD. “The rhetoric of racism, sexism and xenophobia unleashed by her husband’s presidential campaign are incompatible with the shared values we live by.” But no designers have publicly signed onto Theallet’s boycott — even though many of the[ fashion industry’s power players](http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/10/fashion-designers-who-are-hillary-clinton-supporters.html "undefined") supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over President-elect Donald Trump. Hilfiger has praised the Trumps in the past. Ivanka Trump notably appeared in [an ad for Hilfiger during the 1990s](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/28/ivanka-trump-donald-model-real-estate-election "undefined"). The designer spoke about working with the younger Trump during [an interview with Yahoo Style before the election](https://www.yahoo.com/style/gigi-hadid-wasnt-thin-enough-to-show-skin-during-a-tommy-hilfiger-runway-show-123233379.html "undefined"). “She was a doll, she was a sweetheart,” Hilfiger told Yahoo. “She is today. More sophisticated, more grown up. She’s an amazing girl.” \[[WWD](http://wwd.com/eye/people/tommy-hilfiger-responds-to-sophie-theallet-melania-trump-10711252/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4580749/tommy-hilfiger-melania-trump-dress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4580749/tommy-hilfiger-melania-trump-dress/"},"headline":"This Legendary Designer Will Be 'Proud' to Dress Melania Trump","datePublished":"2016-11-22T21:27:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:57.394Z","description":"'[She] is a very beautiful woman'","url":"https://time.com/4580749/tommy-hilfiger-melania-trump-dress/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfb5a413344e45a0/6988af802dce01678c9eb866/melania-trump-tommy-hilfiger-donald-trump.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/bltdfb5a413344e45a0/6988af802dce01678c9eb866/melania-trump-tommy-hilfiger-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ABC News - 2016","caption":"ABC News - 2016","creditText":"Fred Watkins—ABC via 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":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4580749/tommy-hilfiger-melania-trump-dress/","name":"This Legendary Designer Will Be 'Proud' to Dress Melania Trump"}}]}] ```