Either as a result of declining sales, or to avoid a PR nightmare over boycott movements, Nordstrom dropped Ivanka Trump’s clothing label in February. At the same time, T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, owned by the same company, took down signage and displays for Ivanka merchandise. Despite strangely timed trademark approvals and being able to sway the President to take military action, it appears that Ivanka Trump’s brand might be on the decline. However, the Ivanka Brand appears to still have a champion as a discount chain has been caught selling items from her clothing line under a new label.
According to Business of Fashion, G-III, the company that manufactures and sells Ivanka Trump merchandise to retailers, sold clothing relabeled as Adrienne Vittadini Studio to the chain Stein Mart, which has 290 stores in 31 states in towns like Little Rock, Madison, and Jacksonville. In a statement to BoF, G-III said it operated without the knowledge or direction of Ms. Trump’s organization (which Ivanka still holds power over, despite its placement in a trust). The statement concludes, “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.”
Weirdly, BoF notes, branded Ivanka Trump merchandise was also being sold at these stores, even though Stein Mart reported receiving negative feedback about the items, including one incident where a customer spit on a blouse before leaving the store.
Arguably, G-III could have switched labels in order to keep the Trump brand from being associated with a discount chain, and BoF notes that the practice is neither uncommon or illegal, but this is still plenty weird.
(Via Business of Fashion)