The company that owns the right to manufacture and distribute Ivanka Trump's clothing line has been secretly relabeling garments as "Adrienne Vittadini Studio" and selling them to discount retailer Stein Mart, The Business of Fashion has learned. The relabeling occurred "without the knowledge or consent of the Ivanka Trump organization," a spokesperson for the distributor, G-III, said in a statement. It isn't immediately clear if Adrienne Vittadini was aware its labels were being swapped into the Ivanka Trump line.
Relabeling designer items for sale in discount stores is a normal, legal practice in the fashion world in order to protect brand names from being associated with less high-end stores. G-III could have theoretically been attempting to protect the Ivanka Trump brand, but with major retailers including Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus dropping the Ivanka Trump line, claiming weak sales, G-III might have possibly been trying to avoid associations with Ivanka Trump's name instead. "According to a source within Stein Mart, the retailer has received negative feedback from customers regarding Ivanka Trump products, with one customer spitting on a blouse in front of a cashier before storming out of a store," BOF reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pausesSpeed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocksSpeed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battleSpeed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
