Ivanka Trump is making a major move to disentangle her personal life from her business obligations.
The daughter of President-elect Donald Trump — who had already spent much of her life in the public eye — found herself under a new level of public scrutiny over the past few months as her father made his bid for the White House.
Now that Donald Trump is set to become America’s 45th president, Ivanka Trump’s team announced today that its founder intends to use her new platform as a first-daughter to engage in political advocacy.
“Our company’s mission is not political — it never was and it never will be — however, Ivanka, personally, has an increased opportunity to advocate for women and be a positive force for change,” the team wrote in a post on the Ivanka Trump website. “As a private citizen, with full awareness of her heightened visibility, she will broaden her efforts to take a stance on issues of critical importance to American women and families.”
The post continued: “Meanwhile, our team will continue working to inspire and empower women to create the lives they want to live through solution-oriented product and inspiring content on IvankaTrump.com and across social media.”
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Effective today, the company said it would shift its channels and that users could follow @IvankaTrumpHQ on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for brand-related content including the company’s #WomenWhoWork initiative, launched in 2014. For Ivanka’s personal feed, the post encouraged users to keep following @IvankaTrump on all channels.
“This is an unprecedented time for our company, and we are being intentional in how we move forward, working hard to ensure we’re creating the best possible community for our readers,” the post continued. “We’ve been listening to the feedback we’ve received, both positive and not, and we’ve been taking it into consideration as we plan for the future.”
Throughout the course of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Ivanka Trump’s eponymous label of clothes, shoes and accessories became embroiled in controversy.
A grassroots campaign against Trump-branded merchandise had gained momentum online leading up to the Nov. 8 election.
Following the October release of a 2005 video in which Donald Trump made sexually aggressive statements about women, Shannon Coulter, a marketing specialist in California, took to Twitter and started the #grabyourwallet campaign calling for a boycott of all things Trump. Coulter composed a Google Doc listing several companies — including Marshalls & TJ Maxx — that carried Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump’s clothing and accessories lines and encouraged others to join her in boycotting the retail stores.
The election’s outcome seemed to only fueled the anti-Trump momentum, and Coulter added publications such as Forbes.com, People and The National Enquirer to the boycotting list, describing the media outlets as “supportive of Trump.” In addition to major department stores Nordstrom, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus and Dillards, retailers such as DSW, Perfumania and Burlington Coat Factory are also on the list.
While department stores remain mum on whether the nationwide calls for a boycott of Trump brands is making them rethink their inventory, Canada-based e-tailer Shoes.com announced last week that it had removed all Ivanka Trump product from its site in response to the boycott. After announcing its decision to discontinue carrying Ivanka Trump product, Shoes.com was removed from the boycott list.
In a statement to Footwear News, the Ivanka Trump brand responded to Shoes.com’s decision, providing another explanation for the demise of the retail partnership.
“While Shoes.com was an inconsequential part of our business, they were not fulfilling their end of the contract, and parting was inevitable,” a spokesperson for the Ivanka Trump brand said.
Either way, today’s announcement seems to be the first of a series of moves to stop the spillover from Ivanka Trump’s new political life into her brand’s business operations.
FN reached out to Marc Fisher Footwear, Ivanka Trump’s footwear business partner, for comment but did not receive a response as of 11:30 a.m. ET.
