Rebecca Minkoff is launching ‘Make America Ferrera Again’ tees with actress America Ferrera.
In yet another weird, strange twist of the 2016 election (honestly though, if a day goes by without something absolutely insane it starts to feel like we’re not on this planet anymore), women’s accessories designer Rebecca Minkoff has teamed up with a former media darling actress, America Ferrera, and Rock the Vote.
Why, you ask? To produce ‘Make America Ferrera Again’ t-shirts for $48 each.
Now, here’s where things get really twisty-turny… Rock The Vote bills itself as “the largest nonprofit and nonpartisan organization in the United States driving the youth vote to the polls.” I’m not making that up. It literally says that on the ‘about us’ page of their website, and frankly, that’s pretty cool — assuming it’s actually nonpartisan. And if you’re politically unaware or have been living under a rock, nonpartisan is supposed to mean non-biased, especially when it comes to political groups.
It’s hard to see this t-shirt campaign as ‘nonpartisan’ in any way though, because America Ferrara herself has publicly decried Trump as a presidential candidate (I mean, a lot of people have, but it seems weird to partner with a ‘nonpartisan’ vote-encouraging group right after, right?). Rebecca and America, you are some sneaky gangstas. I see you.
According to Minkoff’s PR:
Rebecca Minkoff is excited to announce her collaboration with America Ferrera to promote women making their voice be heard and voting in the 2016 Presidential election.
Rebecca and America partnered together to create a product with distinction and charisma for millennials during the 2016 Presidential Election. The ‘Make America Ferrera Again’ slogan was designed to inspire young voters to get involved and get educated about the 2016 election. Both Rebecca and America’s mission is to impart the importance of their voices during such a significant time in politics.
The t-shirts are available at www.rebeccaminkoff.com and will be available in the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco stores Friday, October 14th, 2016.
These special, limited edition t-shirts retail for $48 and a portion of all proceeds go to Rock the Vote.
That’s cool.
I love supporting women making important decisions, but I do sort of feel for the non-Hillary supporters (hi, sorry, I’m a feeling human who likes to see things from all possible angles), plus all the people still clinging to Bernie hope of yesteryear, and this makes me wonder if designers and actors in general are under the impression that votes can be swayed and had via fashion? Isn’t this kind of the same thing as Forever 21’s religious vibes all over their spandexy-dresses? Didn’t the whole internet explode over that — especially the liberal-minded millennials just trying to wear cute disposable outfits?
I don’t even think that I’m particularly against the idea of designers having political input and sway, I mean, hey — role models and cool-makers are exactly that. But shouldn’t it all sort of be out on the table, as real and easily detected as a push-up bra?
Megan O’Brien, a Beverly Hills resident and still-fervent support of Jeb Bush (apparently the Western Union telegraph of Jeb being out of the race hasn’t yet reached the west coast), is only mildly bothered by the t-shirt campaign.
“To be fair, I can’t remember the last thing America Ferrera has been in… so we could take the slogan literally.”
A lot of people are happy about the under-the-radar pro-Hillary tees, and may even buy them as regular underpinnings. “I’m all for freedom of expression, so don’t mind designers putting out pro-Hillarywear,” shares Julie Chen, Editor and Content Producer. “Actually, I’m happy some of them are doing it, like Tanya Taylor, because it looks a hell of a lot better than your typical campaign fare. I thought it was kind of weird to market something that obviously supports one candidate as ‘non-partisan’, but this election isn’t quite the norm – people are putting their party affiliations aside to get behind the qualified, sane choice for prez. | And hell yeah, I’d definitely wear one!”
Tanya Taylor seems to be less sneaky though, because her shirts aren’t partnered with any particularly nonpartisan groups, non-profits, or attempts to disguise the giant “HRC” emblems across the pockets.
I can’t speak for all millennials obviously, but I’m pretty excited to push fast forward until November 9. The aftermath, either way, will probably be less dramatic than these last few weeks leading up to the greatest most ridiculous presidential race of all time. If you buy any political t-shirts now I have a feeling they’ll end up in the Smithsonian at some point, so don’t get tomato sauce on ’em, okay?
In the meantime, I’ll be sitting here wishing we were going to ‘Make America Ferrera Again’ by way of bringing Ugly Betty back.
