Fashion designer Sophie Theallet has wowed you before, even if you don’t know her name. Not a household name herself, Theallet worked through a pretty popular conduit to get her work known far and wide — on numerous occasions over the past eight years Theallet has dressed First Lady Michelle Obama. It’s pretty fantastic work, dressing the First Lady, who is usually among the most photographed people in the world. But Theallet isn’t interested in the job now.
Theallet may not have been on the shortlist to dress First Lady Melania Trump anyway, but she fired a pre-emptive strike against the possibility in her open letter just a week after the election. Theallia characterizes herself as an immigrant, “blessed with the opportunity to pursue my dreams in the USA.” She took herself out of the running to dress Mrs. Trump, saying:
“As one who celebrates and strives for diversity, individual freedom, and respect for all lifestyles, I will not participate in dressing or associating in any way with the next First Lady. The rhetoric of racism, sexism, and xenophobia unleashed by her husband’s presidential campaign are incompatible with the shared values we live by.”
Open letter | Sophie Theallet | November 17th, 2016 pic.twitter.com/g1hIAyBmdF
— sophie theallet (@sophietheallet) November 17, 2016
