On Tuesday, about a week after New York Fashion Week ended and after many in the industry had traveled across the Atlantic Ocean for shows in Europe, a crowd of roughly 100 people gathered for The America First Patriotic Designer Showcase, a conservative-themed fashion show held at a warehouse tucked amid clusters of suburban office parks on Long Island.
There were hats with rhinestones spelling “Make America Great Again.” Sequined jackets emblazoned with slogans like “MAGA” and “Swifties for Trump.” And gowns, including a red-and-white-striped number with “2024, America’s Comeback!” written on its full skirt.
Attendees sat on plush chairs and couches to view the designs of about a dozen small labels and independent makers participating in the show at the America First Warehouse. The facility, which has an event space and a store, has been hosting conservative events for several years.
Taking place two days after a second assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump, and the night before his planned rally at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, the event showcased the sartorial evolution of a political movement that has always had fashion at its core. MAGA hats, of course, have been emblematic of Mr. Trump’s political identity ever since they were released as merchandise promoting his 2016 presidential campaign. (Other fashion items he has hawked since include gold sneakers and pieces of fabric from the suit he wore to debate President Biden in June.)
Many items in the show, with their Trump or MAGA branding, resembled campaign merchandise. But other pieces — including bejeweled and feathered jackets from the New York brand Elie Balleh; shoes by Claudia Lisotta, a designer in Texas who was raised in Brazil; and shirts and skirts from Lost and Found Apparel, a label that embroiders Bible verses on its clothing — were less overtly political.
Among the more partisan participants was Deborah Yanna, who had come from Iowa to show styles from her “Make America Sparkle Again” line of sequined jackets. Ms. Yanna, a retired salon owner, buys premade jackets that she customizes with sequined patches that spell slogans like “MAGA.” She started selling the pieces, which range from $375 to $500, on social media after wearing one to the Republican convention in Milwaukee.
“I thought it would be fun because everyone gets dressed up there,” she said. “I had no intention of selling them.”
Like at any fashion show, some of the outfits in the crowd rivaled the creativity of those on the runway. Angela Ianacci, a 56-year-old who lives on Long Island, attended in a bandeau top and mini skirt made of novelty dollar bills featuring Mr. Trump’s face. The ensemble took her more than 30 hours to complete.
“I work part time for an adult-only cruise company and every night is a theme,” Ms. Ianacci said. “I made this for fetish night on a cruise to Jamaica.”
The designer showcase was organized by Cindy Grosz, who lost the 2020 Republican primary election for a congressional seat representing parts of Long Island. Ms. Grosz, who said she has a background in event production, saw the fashion show as a conservative antidote to what she described as an industry with a liberal tilt.
Ms. Grosz cited what she believes is an example of that bias: a recent voter-engagement march organized by Vogue and the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The event was billed as a nonpartisan, but had a Democratic sheen thanks to certain speakers, like Jill Biden, and clothing worn at the event, like a Harris-Walz campaign scarf worn by Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue.
“They had Jill Biden speak, but no Republican,” Ms. Grosz said.
Vogue also recently released a collection of Harris-Walz campaign merchandise in collaboration with fashion designers like Thom Browne, the chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
At the latest installment of New York Fashion Week, certain designers’ political views were front and center at their shows: Piotrek Panszczyk and Beckett Fogg of Area, for instance, developed their latest collection around the motto “Bans Off Our Bodies”; their runway show featured a T-shirt supporting Planned Parenthood.
Michael Zumbluskas, a Republican running for a congressional seat representing parts of Manhattan, attended the fashion show to campaign before the election in November. He called out the “Tax the Rich” dress worn by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to the 2021 Met Gala dress as an example of the fashion industry’s Democratic bias.
Pointing to one of Ms. Yanna’s “Make America Sparkle Again” jackets, he said, “You think you can wear this at the Met Gala?”
Mr. Trump, who lent his name to the Donald J. Trump Signature Collection, a now defunct line apparel line that was sold at Macy’s in the early 2000s, has served as a creative inspiration for all types of clothing, from T-shirts to ball gowns, Ms. Grosz said.
She added that she hopes to stage similar fashion shows in the future, regardless of the election’s outcome.
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