In what seems to be the final nail in the coffin, Chinese fashion factories are now cutting ties with Ivanka Trump as her namesake fashion brand closes down. The decision, however, creates little impact on the manufacturing side.
According to reports, the daughter to the US President Donald J. Trump confirmed that she's finally pulling the plug of her clothing business to focus on her role as a senior advisor to the POTUS (President of the United States).
In a statement released on Tuesday, the 36-year-old admits that her work in the nation's capital veered her focus away from the business, thus, it would be best for her to give it up.
"After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington," Ms. Trump said.
Her brand, the Ivanka Trump label sourced the majority of its supply of bags, dresses, shoes, and perfume from Chinese manufacturing companies.
In these recent turn of events, a number of original equipment manufacturers (OEM) for the label said that the closure will only have a minor impact on their own businesses.
Huajian Group, for example, produced shoes for the US-based fashion brand. A spokesperson of the Jiangxi-based firm told Global Times that Trump's company had already stopped placing orders as early as in 2017. Despite this, the decision from the first daughter serves no effect on the factory's overall sales performance.
Another OEM working with Ivanka Trump also said that they are now on the last leg of their contract. The Guangdong Province-based company said that the size of their clientele is big enough that the absence of the aforementioned fashion brand won't have little to no effect to their business.
"When these orders are completed, we'll be done. There's no more to come. Our plant has orders from other clients so the impact of Trump's decision is really limited," a representative from the factory said.
Back home, Ms. Trump's label is already being removed from the shelves by select retail stores such as the Nordstrom chain and Canada's Hudson's Bay department store. Both retail companies attribute their decision for poor sales of the product, a report from BBC said.
On March last year, Ivanka joined the presidential administration and although she is assuming an official position, she is, however, unpaid for the service she's rendering.
