One of the biggest controversies leading up to Trump's presidential inauguration actually centreed on Melania. After fashion designer Sophie Theallet urged her fellow friends to resist dressing the future first lady, it ignited a debate within the fashion community. While some designers like Tommy Hilfiger said he would dress Melania, Zac Posen was adamant that he would not.
In the weeks leading up to the inaugural events in January 2017, the question of "Who will dress Melania?" led to rumours that Karl Lagerfeld had created something. On the day of the inauguration, however, Melania chose Ralph Lauren. Her spokesperson said Melania chose Ralph Lauren because he "transformed American fashion." In another twist, a Ralph Lauren source later revealed to Glamour that the brand received backlash for dressing her. "We immediately started to get complaints about Melania Trump wearing [the label]. And people are using the #boycottralphlauren hashtag."