The founder of a high-end fashion label worn by Melania Trump says tariffs cost her $600,000 a week and she ‘won't make it 'til Christmas'
Good morning! Diddy's sex-trafficking trial has begun, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles faces conflict of interest concerns, and tariffs continue to roil the fashion world.
- Style at risk. The clothing brand Lafayette 148 is 29 years old, worn by Melania Trump, and makes 95% of its inventory at a compound it built in China. Cofounder and CEO Deirdre Quinn says U.S. tariffs on China are costing her $600,000 a week and she "won't make it 'til Christmas" if President Donald Trump's China trade war continues.
Quinn is one of several small business owners sounding the alarm about the impact of tariffs on their companies. (Even as fashion marches on—as seen at last night's Met Gala.) A group of female founders convened by the cofounders of the wine brand Juliet sent a letter to the Trump administration last month calling for support for small-business owners to transition to domestic supply chains; one of the group's examples was Juliet itself, which is mostly made in the U.S. with one packaging component that comes from China—and has no viable domestic alternative.
For Lafayette 148, that transition would be even more complicated. About 15 years ago, the label invested in a 240,000 square-foot compound in Shantou, China, that can manufacture leather goods, knitwear, blouses, and more. Quinn says the factory allowed her to keep working after she almost quit out of exhaustion criss-crossing the globe looking for separate factories for each of her products. Becoming a vertically-integrated business was an advantage—until it wasn't.
Her brand, whose new arrivals range from a $148 t-shirt to a $2,798 midi skirt, is now at risk of folding due to 145% tariffs on China. (First Lady Melania Trump has worn a navy dress from the brand, while former First Lady Jill Biden chose a yellow dress-and-jacket combo for a visit to France.) Lafayette 148 typically imports 10,000 garments a week; now, Quinn says she can only afford to import what she has already sold, so far 1,000 to 2,000 garments weekly. Her 11 U.S. stores are lacking inventory as a result. "The tariffs are bigger than half my company's entire overhead," she says.
My colleague Lila MacLellan, meanwhile, spoke with Pauline Lock, who manages the New York-based manufacturer InStyle USA. Lock says that the domestic factory she runs is not seeing more business because of tariffs—quite the opposite. The general uncertainty is leading retailers to cancel orders amid low consumer confidence and designers to pause plans for future projects, concerned about what costs will be. Lock has had to cut her staff in half. "We have to make sure that we have a solid foundation before we cut off the rest of the world," she told Lila.
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