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UNITED STATES – Ivanka Trump announced on Tuesday, July 24, that she would end the activities of her brand of clothing, footwear and accessories, whose development she had limited to avoid conflicts of interest with her role as advisor in the White House.
After experiencing a sharp rise in sales in 2016 in favor of the presidential campaign, the brand had suffered the impact of the election of Donald Trump, several retail chains deciding in particular to dereference . "After 17 months in Washington, I do not know if I will ever resume this activity, but I know that until further notice, my attention is focused on what I am doing here," Ivanka Trump explained in a statement to AFP
A brand suspected to benefit from the influence of Trump camp
"This decision is the only right way for my team and my badociates," she added. The 18 employees of the company will be fired. Launched in its current form in 2014, the brand benefited from a partnership with the G-III Apparel Group, which manufactured and distributed clothing and accessories. Positioned in the mid-range segment, at affordable prices, it achieved a turnover of 47.3 million dollars in the 2016/17 financial year, closed at the end of January 2017, up 61%, according to figures published by G-III.
After the election of her father and her nomination as counselor to the White House, this mother of three had retained her majority stake in the brand but had paid into a trust to minimize the risk of conflicts of interest. A source close to the brand recalled that after the creation of the trust, the company had worked with a specialist to ensure that it complied with the recommendations of the Office for Government Ethics (OGE) and had "taken measures which went beyond the legal provisions. "
However, several Congressional representatives have regularly expressed concern about the potential for conflicts of interest in the participation of Ivanka Trump in her society. After being alerted by the Law Commission of the House of Representatives, the brand had renounced, in 2017, a partnership with the Japanese textile group Sanei, one of whose shareholders was, indirectly, the Japanese State. [19659002AttheendofMay2018theAmericananti-corruptionbadociationCitizensforResponsibilityandEthicsinWashington(Crew)notedthatIvankaTrumphadbeengrantedtrademarkregistrationbyChinaafewdaysbeforeDonaldTrumpwasreleasedtheballastonthecaseoftheChinesetelecomequipmentmanufacturerZTEIngeneralthebrand'sactivitiesabroadwerecloselywatchedandoftensuspectedofbenefitingfromtheinfluenceoftheTrumpclan
Boycotted by several banners
In May 2017, three Chinese activists were arrested in China while investigating factories producing shoes for the Ivanka Trump line. Held for several weeks, they were released at the end of June 2017. After a time incarnated the voice of reason in the Trump clan, able to push his father to moderate his position on some files, she saw his image deteriorate, criticized for inaction and lack of impact on Trump administration
Since the inauguration of Donald Trump, several chain stores, including Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus in the United States and Hudson Bay in Canada, have chosen to no longer sell items bearing the name of the daughter of the President of the United States. The decision to stop business "has nothing to do with the performance of the brand and is only related to Ivanka's decision to stay in Washington until further notice," said a source close to the mark.
"The structure of the brand was built on a growth model", nevertheless added this source. The departure of the founder for Washington and restrictions on the brand to avoid conflicts of interest "have limited its ability to grow, in the United States or abroad", making its development difficult.
"The Brand perceptions are now very polarized and she has become a lightning rod for protest and boycott, "said Neil Saunders, director of GlobalData Retail. "Even if society is still viable," he added, "the pursuit of his business has become much more complicated and these problems would have only increased."
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