Louis Vuitton Artistic Director Slams Trump After President & Ivanka Attend Event for the Fashion Brand
President Donald Trump recently lent his support to Louis Vuitton, but an artistic director for the luxury brand isn’t reciprocating the gesture.
Days after Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of a new Louis Vuitton workshop in Texas, Nicolas Ghesquière slammed the president on social media, specifically pointing to Trump’s lack of support for LGBTQ rights.
“Standing against any political action. I am a fashion designer refusing this association,” Ghesquière, the artistic director of women’s collections at the famed fashion house, wrote on Instagram.
“Trump is a joke,” he added in a hashtag alongside another that simply read “homophobia.”
The LVMH group, which owns the brand, has not publicly commented on Ghesquière’s stance. But he has received support from colleague Camille Miceli, the creative director for accessories, who responded with a trio of applause and heart emojis.
Out Magazine Editor-in-Chief Phillip Picardi added, “You better say it!!! Proud of you,” while model Teddy Quinlivan, who is transgender, wrote: “BRAVO👏🏻 Thank you for standing on the right side of history 🙌🏼🙌🏼❤️❤️.”
A post shared by @ nicolasghesquiere on Oct 19, 2019 at 8:33pm PDT
Last Thursday, Bernard Arnault, the founder and chairman of LVMH, joined the Trumps at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“We are very honored to have the president of the United States,” Arnault said during the event, according to the The New York Times. “I am not here to judge his types of policies.”
“I have no political role. I am a business person. I try to tell him what I think for the success of the economy of the country, and the success of what we are doing” Arnault added.
In an earlier interview, Michael Burke, chief executive and chairman of Louis Vuitton, commented on the fact that the president also hosted a campaign rally and a fundraiser on the day of his visit, saying, “We have nothing to do with the timing,” the Times reported.
At the event, Trump, who also mispronounced the brand’s name, spoke about how he and Arnault first met after his election “to discuss my vision for creating an American manufacturing renaissance.”
“Bernard had faith in that vision — the vision of doing something right here in this incredible state — and promised to bring a brand-new factory to the United States. And today, wow, has he delivered. He’s really delivered. This is some place,” said the president, noting that the workshop will employ 500 people.
President @realDonaldTrump welcomes @LouisVuitton to the great state of Texas! pic.twitter.com/f86UkGxTof
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 18, 2019
During his speech, Trump also took a moment to lavish praise on daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who was also present.
“What a good job you do,” he said, before doubling down on his claims that his daughter was responsible for creating millions of jobs.
