American fashion isn't as liberal as you think
It's Been a Minute
NPR
4.7 • 9.2K Ratings
🗓️ 28 April 2026
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Despite her modeling past, fashion-obsessed First Lady Melania Trump has not graced the cover of Vogue during President Trump’s tenure. And that’s not necessarily surprising– Anna Wintour, the global editorial director of American Vogue, is a longtime advocate for the Democrats.
But there’s definitely been a shift. That’s why it’s been so curious to see Trump associate Lauren Sánchez Bezos on the digital cover of Vogue. And it was definitely peculiar to see longevity-obsessed venture capitalist Bryan Johnson and looksmaxxing influencer Clavicular walking the runway. Is the American fashion industry making a conservative turn? Or is this just business as usual?
To answer this question, Brittany is joined by Pulitzer Prize winning critic, Robin Givhan. From fashionable First Ladies to President Trump’s favorite shoes - Robin gets into how fashion, politics, and our desire for relatability collide in the court of public opinion.
Want more about fashion? Check out these episodes:
Fast fashion vs. Trump: why women may pay more in the tariff wars
The MET Gala is tonight, and it's already historic. Here's why.
Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.
Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse
For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Someone like the president, like Donald Trump himself, is in some ways very particular about what he wears. |
| 0:06.7 | I mean, it really feels like it is reminiscent of circa mid-80s, early 90s, when he probably felt at his sort of best as a businessman. |
| 0:24.6 | And it's been written about a lot, this idea that he not only hires people for his administration, but he casts people for his administration. |
| 0:31.4 | He loves people who he thinks sort of look the part. It's kind of communicating something about power. |
| 0:39.3 | The relationship between politics and high fashion isn't new, |
| 0:43.3 | but something is definitely changing. |
| 0:46.3 | That's why it's been so curious to see the likes of Lauren Sanchez |
| 0:49.3 | and Jeff Bezos at Paris Fashion Week, |
| 0:51.3 | or Brian Johnson and clavicular walking the runway. To unpack all this, |
| 0:56.5 | I invited Pulitzer Prize winning critic Robin Givon to the show. Robin has been an instrumental |
| 1:01.9 | voice in fashion criticism for years. Robin joins me to set the record straight about |
| 1:06.9 | fashion flirtation with politics and how we want our politicians to look. |
| 1:12.2 | Robin, welcome to It's Been a Minute. |
| 1:14.0 | Thank you very much for having me. |
| 1:18.2 | Hello, hello. |
| 1:19.6 | I'm Brittany Luce and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, |
| 1:23.0 | a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident. |
| 1:34.9 | Thinking broadly and kind of pulling out to sort of the everyday person such as myself, |
| 1:41.3 | it seems like we all have this, it seems like we're all sort of chasing this idea. |
| 1:48.0 | Both, you know, myself is really a constituent and politicians and political figures in |
| 1:54.3 | terms of like how they want to present themselves. |
| 1:56.5 | Like a lot of people are trying to sort of define or chase with their idea of what power looks like in fashion or in style. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.