Ivanka Trump closes her fashion line
BOSTON — US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump on Tuesday said she was shutting her fashion line to focus on her role as an informal White House adviser, where she is working on advancing working women.
Since Trump’s November 2016 election, his family has faced criticism that its portfolio of real estate and consumer goods businesses, which lean heavily on the Trump name as a marker of luxury, conflict with their roles as Washington officials.
Critics of the president called the shutting of the brand a victory for a boycott of Trump-tied businesses that began late in the 2016 campaign.
“After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington,” Ivanka Trump, 36, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Amid criticism of potential conflicts of interest, Ivanka Trump in 2017 gave up day-today management of her clothing company and put its assets in a trust managed by family members.
Her company said licensing contracts would not be renewed and those in place will be allowed to run their course. Mid-priced women’s clothing, shoes and accessories were sold under the label. The 18 people who work for the 11-year-old company will be laid off as it shuts down.
Since Trump’s election, retailers including Nordstrom Inc and Hudson’s Bay Co have dropped or sharply scaled back their assortment of Trumpbranded products, though they typically attributed those decisions to poor sales rather than political messages.
Ivanka Trump’s brand said in a statement that retailers including Bloomingdale’s, owned by Macy’s Inc, Dillard’s Inc and Amazon.com Inc, continued to carry her wares.
The Ivanka Trump brand has also come under criticism for conditions at factories where its products were made. The company said at the time that the “integrity” of its supply chain was a “top priority” and that it takes such allegations “very seriously”.