Nicolas Ghesquiere, French fashion designer and creative director of Louis Vuitton, took to Instagram to express his opposition to Donald Trump, by writing that he refuses to be associated with the US president. The comment was made several days after POTUS and US first daughter Ivanka Trump attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Louis Vuitton workshop in Texas.
“Standing against any political action. I am a fashion designer refusing this association,” Ghesquière wrote on his personal Instagram page, while adding two hashtags alongside his message that read “Trump is a joke” and “homophobia”.
While initially there were several responses to Ghesquiere’s message, the comments to the post are now hidden, and no new ones can be added.
On 17 October, Donald Trump and his daughter, White House advisor Ivanka, joined the founder and chairman of the largest luxury group in the world LVMH Bernard Arnault to cut the ribbon of a new Louis Vuitton workshop in Johnson County, Texas.
“We are very honoured to have the president of the United States", Arnault said during the event, as cited by 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", the CEO of LVMH added.
The development comes as part of Louis Vuitton’s “pledge to America’s workers” strategy which the company recently signed, promising to create 1,000 job opportunities and educational training for employees around the country. The French fashion house is the fourth-largest employer in the US and already has two other workshops located in California. The newly-opened Texas facility currently employs 150 people, but Trump noted that the number will soon rise to 500.
“Today we continue the extraordinary revival of American manufactory and we proudly celebrate the opening of Louis Vuitton – the name I know very well", the president said during the event.
“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", Trump added as cited by People magazine.
LVMH, which also owns brands such as Dior, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs and Sephora, has not publicly commented on Nicolas Ghesquiere’s stance.