Melania Trump's fashion style has been fact-checked! The First Lady's Mt. Rushmore dress wasn't just mocked on social media, it also created a buzz in the fashion industry.
On the eve of Independence Day, Melania accompanied her husband, Donald Trump, at Mt. Rushmore wherein the president told his supporters that protesters were trying to erase U.S. history. During that day, FLOTUS wore a white sleeveless Alexander McQueen dress with black scribbles.
Paper Magazine described the dress featuring abstract line motifs of dancing girls drawn by students studying design at Central Saint Martins (CSM) in London. The dress, however, was mocked by many on social media after it was worn by the first lady. Some said Trump may have scribbled on the fabric with a Sharpie marker.
But several people countered the attack on Melania. One Facebook user defended FLOTUS's fashion choice and claimed the dress had more meaning than critics knew.
The social media user claimed that the dress featured drawings by child victims of sex trafficking who expressed their pain in pictures. It also suggested that Melania should be praised for raising awareness for the victims.
Reuters did a fact check on the claims. It found out that the dress was a collaboration between the famous fashion brand and the art students of CMS. It appeared that the school allowed its students in a life-drawing class to take part in the making of the dress.
The drawing was later on hand-stitched onto the ivory linen dress. The Stitch School, a group promoting community through embroidery, provided specialized tables in the London and Paris studio of the brand to stitch the collaborative garment.
Melanie Bowles, the co-founder of the Stitch School, also denied that the dress stitches were drawn by young victims of sex trafficking. She told Reuters that the drawings were done by CSM art students and stitched at the McQueen studio.
Bowles said she was saddened that a great piece of community work was smeared by false claims. The process of how the dress was made can be seen here. The false claim on Facebook has already been flagged by the platform as part of its efforts to combat fake news and false information on its News Feed.
Meanwhile, the dress that Melania Trump wore at Mt. Rushmore is available on the Alexander McQueen website for $3,840. It was first featured in the brand's Spring 2020 collection and was worn by British supermodel Stella Tennant during their show in October 2019.
