NEW YORK — At Saks Off Fifth, an Ivanka Trump polyester and spandex blouse made in Indonesia was marked down to $34.99, from $69. A few racks over, her black and white jacket came from Vietnam. Several blocks away, at Macy’s, her bootee manufactured in China sold for more than $100.
At Trump Tower, a $35 cotton cap embroidered with “Trump National Golf Club’’ was made in Bangladesh. A Trump Tower hoodie from Pakistan set tourists back $50.
Most clothes these days are made anywhere but the United States. And in this era of local pride and nationalistic fervor, that has become a political liability. The conflict is starkly evident in brands made and marketed by President-elect Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka.
Trump has cast companies that make goods in China and other countries as pariahs, siphoning off jobs better left at home. He has blamed the system, policies in the United States that Trump acknowledged using for his own gain. And since being elected, he has continued to rail against global forces, threatening to punish companies with high tariffs if they don’t move production to the United States.
Should Trump make good on such promises, he would take aim not only at his own brand, but his daughter’s.
Trump doesn’t stand to lose much. His goods are largely made overseas but most of his retail ventures have gone the way of Trump steaks.
Ivanka Trump’s company, by contrast, is the type of operation Trump is squarely aiming for. Her shoes and dresses largely retail for less than $150. Coats cost as much as $400.
Factored into those prices are the costs of materials, production, shipping, tariffs, marketing, and advertising. Cheap production overseas means more coin in the coffers of Ivanka Trump and the shoe, accessory and clothing makers that are her partners, among them Marc Fisher footwear, the G-III Apparel Group, and Mondani. (Ivanka Trump’s privately held company does not disclose its financials.)
Almost all of her goods are made overseas, according to a New York Times review. Trade database ImportGenius tallied 193 shipments for imported goods associated with Ivanka Trump for the year through Dec. 5, mostly Chinese-made shoes and bags. Her dresses and blouses are made in China, Indonesia and Vietnam, according to a review of hundreds of clothing tags and financial documents filed by G-III. It is the harsh reality of the clothing business.
At Trump Tower, a $65 white polo golf shirt from Lesotho was available but there was no sign of many of Donald Trump’s other items.
Last year, Macy’s dropped Trump’s clothing line over inflammatory comments he made about Mexican immigrants. Now about the best place to find his ties, dress shirts, and accessories is on Amazon.com.
The company that made Trump-branded comforters and sheets, Downlite, said it ended its relationship with him last year. His beds, designed by Dorya, aren’t in stores, either. They are made to order overseas.
Trump has said he’d like to make apparel in the United States, but that it was hard to find companies that did. When George Stephanopoulos of ABC pressed him to explain, Trump said, “They don’t even make the stuff here.’’
That is not exactly true.
BJ Nickol, president of All American Clothing Co., in Ohio, said he employed 15 people, as well as subcontractors in about 20 states who cut, sew and ship shirts, jeans, and sweaters. He estimated it cost All American $10 to $15 to make a polo shirt. He sells them for $28 to $38, about half what a shirt costs at Trump Tower.
Nickol said he’d welcome a big-time customer like Trump. Nickol said he had witnessed the impact on his community when apparel manufacturers moved away. “And the only way we could think of to fix that was to keep jobs here,’’ he said.
While large-scale clothing manufacturing is unlikely to return to the United States, specialty items or high-end apparel have promise. Todd Shelton, a designer who makes sleek separates and sells them online, sews his clothes at a New Jersey factory. But there are trade-offs, namely price.
With the Ivanka Trump brand, another variable is in play: politics. “I would completely separate myself from my businesses,’’ she said. But it won’t change her strategy much. She does not plan to move manufacturing back just to quell critics.
