Louis Vuitton’s artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière calls Donald Trump a ‘joke’

‘I am a fashion designer refusing this association,’ says figure after president’s factory visit

(Getty

Louis Vuitton’s artistic director has made it clear he doesn't want anything to do with Donald Trump.

On Sunday, Nicolas Ghesquière took to his personal Instagram account to publicly distance himself from the US president, three days after Trump joined the chairman and chief executive of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, to open a new Louis Vuitton leather goods factory in Texas.

LVMH is a luxury goods conglomerate that owns a number of fashion brands including Givenchy, Christian Dior and Fendi.

Ghesquière distanced himself from the highly publicised event on social media, writing: “Standing against any political action. I am a fashion designer refusing this association.”

The designer added a series of hashtags to the post, which featured the cover of the 1984 Evelyn Thomas club hit “High Energy”, including #trumpisajoke and #homophobia.

A spokesman for Louis Vuitton said the house had no comment to make on Ghesquière’s post

The post received praise from many industry figures, including Louis Vuitton’s accessories creative director Camille Miceli, who commented on Ghesquière’s post with clapping hands and heart emojis.

Transgender model Teddy Quinlivan also wrote: “Thank you for standing on the right side of history.”

Actor Indya Moore, Paco Rabanne creative director Julien Dossena, Out Magazine editor-in-chief Phillip Picardi and stylist Rebecca Corbin-Murray were among others who took to the comments section to show their support of the designer.

Ghesquière is not the only one to have taken issue with the luxury brand’s association with Trump.

The president’s appearance at the workshop opening sparked backlash on social media, with Grab Your Wallet, a group that calls on shoppers to boycott businesses associated with the Trump family and administration, adding LVMH to its blacklist.

Donald Trump attended the opening of a new Louis Vuitton factory alongside Chief Executive of LVMH Bernard Arnault, CEO of Louis Vuitton Michael Burke and Alexandre Arnault, and Ivanka Trump (Getty)

“Creating jobs is not an excuse to ignore morally repugnant behaviour,” Shannon Coulter, one of the movement’s founders told Business of Fashion (BoF) earlier this week.

“Businesses are willing to look the other way in order to work with the Trump administration, but it’s a worrisome trend."