This commission brought Ralph Rucci unprecedented attention, but it came at a steep price.
“I received death threats for designing that outfit. People called me a ‘gay Nazi.’ For a time, I even had to hire security.”
In today’s highly politicized America, designing for the First Lady has become far more than just a fashion assignment.
Rucci had designed outfits for Melania four times and for Jill Biden twenty-two times. Yet, simply because he designed Melania’s inauguration outfit, he says the public seems to have pegged him as “some kind of crazy MAGA Republican supporter.”
Rucci, however, sees it differently. “Generally speaking, I try to keep politics out of my work as much as possible.”
To him, the issue is simple. “I just felt that on the day her husband was sworn in, the First Lady should wear the work of an American designer. The idea of her wearing a European brand seemed unthinkable to me.”
That was precisely how Rucci viewed the collaboration: less a political statement than an act of support for American fashion.
His description of Melania herself also differs from the political interpretations surrounding the collaboration.
“She has always been wonderful to my staff; she sends incredible gifts, handwritten notes, and Christmas cards. Truly, among all the First Ladies I’ve worked with, she has been the most generous in this regard.”
The outfit Melania wore went on to become one of Rucci’s most high-profile creations.
Interestingly, this wasn’t Rucci’s first time designing for a First Lady; he had created far more pieces for Jill Biden prior to Melania. Yet, he now finds it difficult to completely separate politics from his work.
Nevertheless, the controversy does not appear to have harmed his business.
On the day he presented his collection at New York Fashion Week, a long line of reporters waited to get in, and the media response was enthusiastic. Lippes still appears composed; with his fine-framed metal glasses and neatly groomed hair, he looks more like an optimistic professor than a designer mired in political controversy.
In fact, his business is growing rapidly.
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