It’s no surprise that New York designers had their eye on showing their latest collections at Hudson Yards, the new eye-catching luxury fashion monstrosity in Chelsea that’s home to Chanel, Dior, and Fendi shops alike. But when the news broke that its developer Stephen Ross was hosting a fundraiser for Trump’s reelection campaign at his home in the Hamptons (with tickets selling for $100-250k, including a photo opp with Trump), Prabal Gurung and rag & bone pulled out of showing at their Instagram-worthy spaces The Shed and The Vessel.
“This is about choosing between two sides, the right or the wrong sides of the history… I was previously in conversation with Hudson Yards’ The Vessel as the venue for my brand’s upcoming ten year show during NYFW. When I heard about this fundraiser, I chose to pull my participation,” Gurung said on Twitter. “Removing our brand and selves from this is my choice and that is my decision. I am not expecting anyone else to do it, however it was the right thing to do, for ME, and I do want to speak out to create transparency and awareness.”
According to WWD and Teen Vogue, rag & bone was supposed to host their show at The Shed, but ultimately decided to pull out and present their collection elsewhere, though a new location has yet to be decided upon.
Over the last week, the backlash against Ross has come in the form of boycotts of Equinox, and SoulCycle, two companies that he’s invested in — as well as a slew of other fashionable New York locales. Rumors have circulated for years that Hudson Yards was set to be the home of future fashion weeks beyond 2019, but perhaps as Phillip Picardi suggests, New York Fashion Week has a Trump problem.