Why the fashion designers refusing to dress Melania Trump are surely American patriots

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 an issue, 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 honour.

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.

And so catering to his wife quickly became an ethical dilemma for designers. Would doing so signal tacit approval of her husband’s scorched-earth tactics?

Ultimately, it may be that designers focused on the wrong person. With Melania Trump planning to remain in New York a while for her son’s schooling, it increasingly appears that the president-elect’s eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, who is moving to Washington, may be taking on many of the ceremonial duties typically assigned to the spouse, even dipping into policy issues. (Ivanka, as it happens, has her own fashion brand, but it focuses on workday attire, not evening wear.) Indeed, one might make an argument that Ivanka’s inaugural gown, rather than Melania’s, will deserve the place in the Smithsonian.