Just as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention had multiple messages, so too did the Chloé navy suit she wore.
That was the takeaway from five fashion authorities, who largely praised — but in some instances questioned — the choice of a French label for an American presidential candidate. Harris had also sported a Chloé suit with a pussy-bow blouse at the DNC earlier in the week. Both ensembles were designed by the luxury house’s creative director Chemena Kamali, who succeeded Gabriela Hearst, one of First Lady Jill Biden’s favorite designers.
Executives at Chloé did not respond to media requests Friday, nor did they Tuesday. But a handful of fashion observers broke down Harris’ latest designer choice and speculated about what it may have conveyed to voters and the world at large.
The fact that Harris chose not to wear the more expected all-white pantsuit, which female politicians and activists have donned as an homage to the women’s suffragette movement for key photo-ops, resonated with some. That look also has been tied to the #MeToo movement and in opposition to sexual violence, according to Richard Ford Thompson, the author of “Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History.”
Harris’ midnight blue suit was also a departure from the bright-colored, conservatively tailored pantsuits worn by other leading female political figures like former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and even further back to former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, said Ford, a law professor at Stanford University Law School.
“It had significance. Kamala’s suit felt to me like a power move. She was going to wear a dark navy blue suit like men would wear and she wasn’t afraid of leaning into that. In one sense, she was emphasizing that she would [potentially] be the first woman president. She was just all-business.”
In addition, her…