Who is Melania Trump’s artist sister Ines Knauss? Maid of honour at the first lady’s wedding to Donald, she now lives two New York blocks from Trump Tower and helps raise son Barron
Ines was at Melania’s side long before her journey to the White House, with the sisters both leaving Slovenia together to pursue careers in Europe’s fashion capital Milan – Melania as a model, Ines as a designer
Melania Trump is spotted with her parents Viktor and Amalija Knavs on occasion, but did you know Melania also has two siblings? She has a half-brother, Denis Cigelnjak – who has never met his father, Viktor, or his half-siblings – and a sister, Ines Knauss (the Germanised form of Knavs), who’s three years older and regarded as Melania’s best friend.
Model behaviour
Much like Melania, Ines had dreams of working in fashion and the pair moved from their hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, to the capital Ljubljana, and eventually to Milan, Italy together in the early 1990s. While Melania pursued modelling, Ines followed in the footsteps of her factory patternmaker mother and got into fashion design. But with looks similar to those of her sister, Ines could’ve easily found success on the catwalk, according to people who knew the pair at the time.
Down to earth
Philanthropist Audrey Gruss, who lives in Palm Beach, Florida, not far from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, told the New York Post that the sisters are very close and describes Ines as an “extremely creative” and “lovely” person.
Photographer Ale de Basseville has also vouched for Ines’ good reputation. Speaking about her time in Milan, Basseville said she wanted to be in fashion but didn’t know how to break into the industry. He described her as “polite”, “very mellow” and someone who “wasn’t like the other girls you would meet there, who behave like queens”.
Living the high life
art of gossip #courtesy of #artist ines knauss pic.twitter.com/SnsQIJ1bWC
— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) August 6, 2014
Ines is now an artist living on New York’s Fifth Avenue just two blocks away from Trump Tower and she lives in a US$2 million flat owned by the Trump Organisation. Melania has often shared images of her sister’s artworks and Ines posts snaps from their childhood.
Since Donald became president, Ines has managed to secure status as a permanent resident of the United States, while her parents are fully-fledged American citizens now. The swift legal process was considered controversial as while it would’ve been relatively easy for Melania to secure citizenship for her mother and father, the process for Ines was expected to take up to 20 years.
Sibling support
According to fashion photographer Luisa Beccaria, Ines has been a great support to Melania, serving as her maid of honour at her wedding, and spending time with the family especially since the birth of Donald and Melania’s son, Barron Trump. Beccaria said although Melania could call on all the professional help money can buy, she only trusted her sister with raising her son.