Tuesday, September 16, 2008

It's gotta be the shoes!

Sarah Palin is having an impact on the Presidential campaign unprecedented in modern times by a VP candidate. Obama is acting like he is running against her, which I think makes him look weak because he can't even beat Palin and he is supposed to be running against McCain. Everything she does or says is front page news, and now so is what she wears. The Wall Street Journal ran a piece on how her Naught Monkey red pumps are hot sellers these days. But now every seller of her garb is happy about it.

Not everyone is cashing in on their association with the Alaskan governor. The famously liberal New York fashion establishment seems to have paid little attention to Gov. Palin while publicly embracing the Obamas.

Vogue Editor Anna Wintour and designer Calvin Klein held a fund-raiser for the Democratic nominee in June, and over a dozen designers, including Diane von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Narciso Rodriguez, Tory Burch and Isaac Mizrahi, have designed T-shirts and other merchandise for the Obama Web site.

Steven Kolb, executive director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, says he "couldn't envision" that the fashion industry would be lending its design talents to the Republican ticket.

Likewise, Patagonia Inc., which Gov. Palin has identified at least partly in jest as one of her favorite designers, has "absolutely no" plans to promote the association, says company spokeswoman Jen Rapp.

"Patagonia's environmental mission greatly differs from Sarah Palin's," Ms. Rapp says. "Just wearing the clothing of an environmental company does not necessarily make someone an environmentalist."

You can almost hear the smarmy sniff when Ms. Rapp said that. Want to bet that Ms. Rapp barely ever goes outside except to catch a cab or go skiing? Ironically I would say the same thing about wearing Pata-gucci or having a greenpeace sticker on your car. Patagonia makes their money, the vast majority of it, by selling overpriced stuff to people in urban and suburban areas who want to look outdoorsy and environmentally conscious. If they were really concerned, they would buy second hand clothes instead of brand new stuff made overseas. The whole company is based on a snobbish attitude of being green friendly and paying a hefty price for it. I would hazard a guess that 99% of Patagonia gear is never worn anywhere more exotic than Des Moines, Iowa.

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