Ivanka Trump shuts down her namesake clothing brand
Ivanka Trump's clothing brand is shutting down.
The president's daughter and White House senior advisor said her "focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington" and called the company's closure "the only fair outcome for my team and partners."
The company, based in New York's Trump Tower, had been dropped by retailers such as Nordstrom due to flagging sales. Its dresses, shoes and handbags -- all of which were made in foreign countries such as China and Indonesia -- also conflicted with her push of more jobs in the U.S.
The closure comes as a surprise even within the company, where officials had been discussing implementing long-delayed oversight of its foreign factory partners as recently as last week.
Company chief Abigail Klem said last year she had been planning her first trip to tour some of the facilities that make Ivanka Trump products, and said the company would boost oversight of the treatment of its largely female workforce. The company never shared details of those initiatives.
Her brand of affordable fashion for young, professional women became a polarizing political statement, bought in solidarity by Trump supporters and boycotted vigorously by liberals.
A number of national retailers, including Macy's, Lord and Taylor, Zappos and Amazon.com currently carry the first daughter's line. (Jeffrey P. Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon, also owns The Washington Post.)
Trump started her fine jewelry line in 2007, and has since expanded to shoes, clothing and eyewear. In December, she opened a store in the lobby of Manhattan's Trump Tower, where she said she hoped to sell handbags, jewelry and candles directly to consumers, raising concerns among some ethics experts who said it was yet another way for the Trump family to tap into the wallets of their supporters.
Ivanka Trump made more than $5 million from her fashion company between January 2016 and March 2017, according to financial disclosures released last year. She has since handed over day-to-day operations to Abigail Klem, but continues to own the company she founded 11 years ago.
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