Immigrants in Fashion
With the recent ban on immigrants from majority-Muslim countries, America has been in a state of turmoil. These days, I’m constantly reminded of how far we’ve departed from the America that poet Emma Lazarus described in her inscription below the Statue of Liberty: a country that once welcomed the “tired,” “poor,” and “huddled masses yearning to breathe free." This is in part due to our new culture of anti-immigrant rhetoric. I suppose that when a person of power uses inflammatory remarks to demonize marginalized groups, people tend to listen. It’s pretty worrying, honestly.
To be fair, it’s easy to dismiss most of these generalizations as hogwash. How can every single person included in a particular ethnic group be a rapist? It just doesn’t make sense. However, these outlandish convictions are less dangerous than seemingly valid statements that have dubious meanings. By that, I mean comments that aren’t overly absurd and could be interpreted as the truth given a lack of a fact checker, some biases and a couple of logical leaps here and there.
That said, the one quote going around that concerns me the most is President Trump’s accusation that "when Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best.” This provides both a dangerously simple and seemingly valid comment that many could get behind, as well as a slippery slope where Trump’s attacks on Mexicans could extend to all American immigrants from anywhere in the world. The danger behind this quote cannot be understated: it undermines American progress and the contributions of countless immigrants to this country in history. Immigrants built this country up and we do America a great disservice by tearing them down. So, I find it incredibly important as of late to celebrate American immigrants and challenge the idea that immigrants are not “the best.” We all need to remember that immigrants were, are and always will be influential figures every field and industry in America. Of course, that includes fashion. Here’s a look at five important immigrants in the American fashion industry.
Oscar de la Renta
Prominent fashion icon Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo, also known to us as Oscar de la Renta, was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. After working in Spain and Paris for Balenciaga and Lanvin, he eventually ended up at Elizabeth Arden in New York City and eventually took over a fashion house called Jane Derby, making it his own.
Jason Wu
A prominent fashion designer, Wu was born in Taipei, Taiwan, spent his childhood in Canada, and attended school in the United States. He is known for dressing Michelle Obama and designed both of her inauguration dresses.
Diane von Fürstenberg
Born to Jewish parents in Belgium, Diane von Fürstenberg began designing dresses after marrying into the royal German von Fürstenberg family and moved to New York to pursue her fashion career soon after. She’s known for introducing the innovative jersey “wrap dress” to the women’s fashion world.
Carolina Herrera
Venezuelan Carolina Herrera moved to New York because of her job as a publicist for Emilio Pucci and befriended icons like Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger. Eventually, her reputation for dramatic style led to her career as a fashion designer. She’s dressed Jacqueline Onassis, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump.
Anna Wintour
The queen of the fashion world herself is an immigrant. Anna Wintour was born in the United Kingdom and started her career in fashion editorial at Harper's & Queen in London. She eventually quit, moved to New York and became a fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Eventually, after trial and error, Wintour found herself under the Condé Nast umbrella and eventually fulfilled her dreams of becoming the editor-in-chief of Vogue.