Louis Vuitton has just opened a new factory in Texas – and to celebrate, Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, the brand's parent company, welcomed Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka as guests of honour at an event. Trump took a tour of the factory before making a speech, which included some comments about his recent 'success in the Middle East' before mispronouncing Louis Vuitton.
Of course, this occasion elicits many questions. Namely: Why, in the name of Louis, does LVMH want to align itself with Trump? At the opening, Arnault said: 'We are very honored to have the president of the United States coming for the opening. 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.'
Interestingly, Louis Vuitton's own artistic director of womenswear, Nicolas Ghesquiere, took to Instagram to declare his distaste for LV's association with Trump. He wrote: 'Standing against any political action. I am a fashion designer refusing this association #trumpisajoke #homophobia.' The post received much praise from fellow fashion industry insiders, as well as celebrities like Indya Moore.
As Vanessa Friedman pointed out in the New York Times, brands such as New Balance, SoulCycle and Equinox have all suffered due to their public endorsement of Trump in the past. Given that Louis Vuitton has been valued by Forbes as the world's most valuable luxury brand, it has a lot to lose. The factory itself, however, is in Johnson County, where 77.5% of people voted for Trump in 2016. Given that Louis Vuitton is promising 1,000 jobs (according to the New York Times, 'the company signed President Trump’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” an education and training initiative, the week before the opening.') this is likely to go down well with voters in the area, looking ahead to the 2020 elections.
Since the factory visit, the boycott-Trump movement, Grab Your Wallet, has added Louis Vuitton to its list of retailers with ties to the Trump family and/or administration that it advises shoppers avoid. Shannon Coulter, co-founder of the organisation, told Business of Fashion that 'creating jobs is not an excuse to ignore morally repugnant behavior. Businesses are willing to look the other way in order to work with the Trump administration, but it’s a worrisome trend.'
SEE: All The Women Who Have Accused Trump Of Sexual Misconduct
All The Women Who Have Accused Donald Trump Of Sexual Misconduct - Grazia (Stacked)
1 of 17Jessica Leeds
in October 2016, Jessica Leeds alleged in a New York Times article that Donald Trump groped her on a plane in the 1970's. Leeds repeated the accusation on ABC News and at a news conference in December of 2017. Trump responded by stating 'I've had many false charges; I had a woman sitting in an airplane and I attacked her while people were coming onto the plane. And I have a number-one bestseller out? I mean it was total phony story. There are many of them'.
2 of 17E. Jean Carroll
Trump's most recent accuser - E. Jean Carroll wrote an article in which she describes an incident where the president of the United States sexually assaulted and raped her in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid 1990's. The 'colossal struggle' according to Carroll took place over 3 minutes during which Trump 'pulls down my tights' and thrust his penis 'halfway – or completely, I'm not certain – inside me.'. Trump responded to the accusation by telling the press 'she's not my type'.
3 of 17Karena Virginia
Karena Virginia accused Trump of groping her breast in 1998 outside the US open Tennis tournament. Describing the incident, she said 'He then walked up to me and reached his right arm and grabbed my right arm, then his hand touched the right inside of my breast.' after she flinched, Trump allegedly told the then 27-year-old 'Don't you know who I am?'. Donald Trump has never directly addressed the accusation.
4 of 17Jill Harth
In 1997 Jill Harth filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Trump. According to Harth, Trump tried to put his hands between her legs during a dinner with her boyfriend George Houraney, in 1992. She also alleges that tried to kiss her during a tour of his Mar-a-lago estate a month later. In 2016 the lawsuit was revisited, Trump was quoted to have said 'It's ridiculous, I never touched this woman'. The two briefly dated in 1998. Following several defamatory press stories, Harth made a statement accusing the The Hill of undermining her and her attorney in the interest of Trump's presidential campaign.
5 of 17Kristin Anderson
In an interview with the Washington Post, Kristin Anderson claimed Donald Trump put his hand up her skirt and groped her in the 1990's. Her friend, Brad Trent corroborated to story, telling ABC News that Anderson had told him about the incident the same year it happened. Hope Hicks, Trumps former Communications Director responded stating 'Mr. Trump strongly denies this phony allegation by someone looking to get some free publicity.'
6 of 17Kathy Heller
Kathy Heller claims that in 1997 Trump kissed her against her will at a Mother's Day Brunch at Mar-a-Lago. After pushing him away, Trump allegedly said to Heller 'Oh, come on.' before grabbing her and attempting to kiss her again. Trump's campaign claimed it was a false statement, stating ''There is no way that something like this would have happened in a public place on Mother's Day at Mr. Trump's resort. It would have been the talk of Palm Beach for the past two decades'. Heller told People magazine in 2017 that Trump is 'a hypocrite' and 'I don't think he should be calling out anyone for sexual harassment or sexual assault, but I don't think he can control himself'.
7 of 17Bridget Sullivan
'The time that he walked through the dressing rooms was really shocking. We were all naked,' Bridget Sullivan told Buzzfeed in May 2016, describing how Trump walked into the dressing rooms at the Miss Universe contest while contestants were changing. In a 2005 interview, Trump said 'No men are anywhere, and I'm allowed to go in, because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore I'm inspecting it. ... 'Is everyone OK'? You know, they're standing there with no clothes. 'Is everybody OK?' And you see these incredible looking women, and so I sort of get away with things like that'.
8 of 17Jennifer Murphy
Jennifer Murphy, a former contestant on The Apprentice TV show that Trump formerly hosted told Grazia that Trump kissed her on the lips during a job interview after she left the show. After leaving the show, Trump had offered to secure Murphy a job but following their interview, Murphy states 'He walked me to the elevator, and I said goodbye. I was thinking, 'Oh, he's going to hug me,' but when he pulled my face in and gave me a smooch. I was like, 'Oh kay.' I didn't know how to act. I was just a little taken aback and probably turned red'.
9 of 17Tasha Dixon
Dixon claims that Donald Trump came 'strolling right in' during a dress rehearsal for the Miss USA Pageant in 2001 when she was 18. According to Dixon, the who were naked or half-naked and 'very physically vulnerable position.' were instructed to 'fawn all over him'. The Trump campaign responded to Dixon's claims, stating 'These accusations have no merit and have already been disproven by many other individuals who were present'.
10 of 17Temple Taggart McDowell
During the 1997 Miss USA Contest, Temple Taggart (the then 21-year-old Miss Utah) claimed Trump kissed her 'directly on the lips'. In an interview in October 2017 Trump said 'I don't even know who she is, she claims this took place in a public area. I never kissed her. I emphatically deny this ridiculous claim.'
11 of 17Cassandra Searles
In June 2016, former Miss Washington Cassandra Searles wrote on Facebook that Trump 'treated us like cattle' adding 'I forgot to mention that guy will be running to become the next President of United States.' according the the Rolling Stone, she later wrote an additional comment to the thread that Trump 'probably doesn't want me telling the story about that time he continually grabbed my ass and invited me to his hotel room'.
12 of 17Jessica Drake
Jessica Drake, and adult film star, says that she met Trump in 2006 at Lake Tahoe. Trump allegedly invited Drake and two other women to a hotel room where Drake says 'When we entered the room, he grabbed each of us tightly in a hug and kissed each one of us without asking permission,' adding that after she left Trump called her requesting that she return to his room to have dinner with him. 'Donald then asked me 'What do you want? How much?'. The Trump campaign referred to Drake's accusations as 'totally false and ridiculous'.
13 of 17Mindy McGillivrey
Mindy McGillivrey was working as a photographer's assistant at Mar-a-Lago for an event in 2003 when she says Donald Trump groped her behind. The photographer working with her, Ken Davidoff recalled that McGillivrey immediately pulled him aside and said 'Donald just grabbed my ass'. In an interview in December 2017 McGillivrey told NBC 'I think it's important that we hold this man to the highest of standards, and if 16 women have come forward, then why hasn't anything been done? Where is our investigation? I want justice.' Trump's then-Communications Director Hope Hicks said the claimed lacked 'any merit or veracity'.
14 of 17Summer Zervos
Summer Zervos is currently filing a defamation lawsuit against Trump after he called her and the other women accusing him of sexual impropriety liars. Zervos alleges that after she competed on The Apprentice, Trump kissed her twice during meetings at Trump Tower, and kissed and groped her in a California hotel room. During the altercation, Servos says Trump 'grabbed my shoulder and began kissing me again aggressively and placed his hand on my breast'. Referring to the defamation lawsuit, Zervos's attorney said 'It was Donald Trump who was lying when he falsely denied his predatory misconduct with Summer Zervos, and derided her for perpetrating a 'hoax' and making up a 'phony' story to get attention.'
15 of 17Natasha Stoynoff
Natasha Stoynoff published a first-person account for People magazine, describing an assault which she alleges took place when she interviewed Trump in Mar-a-Lago in 2005. During the incident, Stoynoff wrote that Trump pushed her against a wall and attempted to kiss her before being interrupted by a butler. A following story published by People listed five colleagues and friends who said that Stoynoff had told them about the incident when she returned from the interview. In response Trump tweeted 'Why didn't the writer of this twelve year old article in People Magazine mention the 'incident' in her story. Because it did not happen!'.
16 of 17Ninni Laaksonen
Former Miss Finland, Ninni Laaksonen told a Finnish newspaper that during the Miss Universe contest in 2006, while posing for a photo 'Trump stood right next to me and suddenly he squeezed my butt. He really grabbed my butt'. Laaksonen declined later requests for comment on the incident after being contacted by ABC News in 2017, responding 'I have never commented on this, and I won't. I wish that you respect my will to live a normal life without interference.'
17 of 17Rachel Crooks
While working as a Secretary in Trump's building in 2005, Rachel Crooks told the New York Times that Trump accosted her outside of an elevator where he shook her hand, kissed her on the cheek and kissed her on the lips. Brainne Webb, Crooks sister told ABC news that Crooks had immediately called her after the incident in a state of upset. Crooks repeated her story in The Washington Post in 2018, to which Trump Tweeted 'A woman I don't know and, to the best of my knowledge, never met, is on the FRONT PAGE of the Fake News Washington Post saying I kissed her (for two minutes yet) in the lobby of Trump Tower 12 years ago. Never happened! Who would do this in a public space with live security cameras running. Another False Accusation. Why doesn't @washingtonpost report the story of the women taking money to make up stories about me? One had her home mortgage paid off. Only @FoxNews so reported...doesn't fit the Mainstream Media narrative.'