Today’s Inauguration Fashion Inaugurated A New Era for Young Designers

Rogers: ImaxtreeGetty Images

Style Points is a weekly column about how fashion intersects with the wider world.When Michelle Obama wore designs by Isabel Toledo and Jason Wu to the 2009 inauguration, it marked a huge moment in the careers of both designers. Over the course of her time as First Lady, the rising tide of her fashion choices helped lift names like Brandon Maxwell, Thakoon, and Sophie Theallet into the national spotlight—and the pieces she wore often sold out. It seems that, with their choices for the inauguration events, Vice President Kamala Harris and First Lady Jill Biden are taking a similar approach—and using their platform to help boost the profiles of talented young American designers.

Harris and Biden chose looks by Christopher John Rogers and Markarian, respectively, for the inauguration.
Joe Raedle

Harris made a point of wearing looks by two Black designers—Kerby Jean-Raymond of the label Pyer Moss, and Christopher John Rogers—befitting her historic status as the first Black person to hold the office. Jean-Raymond explains that the backstory behind the camel coat that Harris wore yesterday stretches back well before Inauguration Day. “Kamala’s stylist reached out the day after she was announced as Joe Biden’s running mate. We talked about several projects but always intended to be part of the inauguration,” he says. “We made several options including dresses and accessories for Kamala and ultimately she chose this jacket which the stylist said is ‘the cat’s meow.'”

Harris wears a coat by Pyer Moss.
Chip SomodevillaGetty Images

Jean-Raymond worked on the piece with frequent collaborator Camilla Huey, a costume designer and couturier who he calls “a constant in my life and part of my growth as a designer. She’s taught me how to achieve more difficult executions that I didn’t know how to do before. She was a part of creating my Sculpture for the MoMA and several of the Met Gala looks I created in 2019, some of which remain unseen publicly,” he says. “We began working on a fairly ordinary jacket but we got approval to make some changes this week to incorporate some of our brand identity on the piece. The knife pleat is one of our favorite mainstays in our collections.” As is the wave symbol, which here, he says,…

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Source: elle.com