The Harris campaign’s Designers for Democracy collection brings top designers to political merch
Plus: Trump enters his A.I. era
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The Harris campaign’s Designers for Democracy collection brings top designers to political merch
Trump enters his A.I. era
Scroll to the end to see: what Shepard Fairey said about his new portrait of Kamala Harris 🖼️
The Harris campaign’s Designers for Democracy collection brings top designers to political merch
For supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris for whom a standard Harris-Walz logo tee is too pedestrian but the campaign’s camo hats too online, there is Designers for Democracy, a 20-piece collection of specially designed pieces from top fashion designers like Vera Wang, Prabal Gurung, Thom Brown, and Gabriela Hearst.
Designers were asked to incorporate campaign themes and issues they felt passionately about into their pieces, Harris campaign advisor Meaghan Burdick told Vogue.
That shows up in the form of Rachel Scotts’ all-black “Reproductive Rights Now” sweatshirt and Hearst’s pink and blue tie dye sweatshirt and matching baseball cap that say “Democracy,” “Women’s Rights,” and “Climate.” Gurung designed a t-shirt that uses the phrase “reproductive rights = human rights” to make the image of a flower while Aurora James contributed a retro pocket t-shirt that says “America is an Idea.”
“I couldn’t be more excited to support Kamala Harris on her way to the White House,” James wrote in an Instagram post about the collection. “She carries so many of our ideas and dreams about who America is and who she can be, alongside her.”
Some of the items were originally designed for President Joe Biden’s campaign, like Jonathan Cohen’s floral “Vote 2024” crewneck sweatshirt, which didn’t have to be updated since it didn’t mention a particular candidate, while Thom Browne changed the scarf he made for Biden to add the “Harris for President” logo.
Other items were designed specifically for Harris. Willy Chavarria made a fun “Kamala.” logo of his own for his sweatshirt and Cleo Wade used a photo of Harris as a child to say “The First But Not the Last” for a tee. Items in the collection are priced between $35 and $85, and the campaign says there’s more to come.
Designer collections have become a boon for Democratic presidential campaigns in recent campaign cycles (Republicans haven’t duplicated the effort). Then-President-elect Barack Obama’s Inaugural Committee released a Runway for Change Inaugural Collection in 2009 with such dated items as a Juicy Couture “Live for Change” tee and another tee from House of Deréon, Beyoncé’s former fashion line.
Obama followed that up in 2012 with Runway to Win, a collection of designer-made totes and tees, and every Democratic nominee since has followed his lead. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016 released a Made for History designer collection as well as The 45 Pin Project made up of pins designed by 45 artists and designers. President Joe Biden’s 2020 designer collection was called Believe in Better.
These collections engage designers and give candidates more creative, fashion-forward merch than they might already have. Expect to see more designers contribute their own designs in the weeks to come.
Trump enters his A.I. era
At his rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Saturday, Trump called Harris “Comrade Kamala” and accused her of going “full communist” with her economic plan. Then on social media, he illustrated his point with artificial intelligence.
Trump posted an image on Truth Social Saturday and again on X Sunday that appeared to be generated by A.I. showing a woman in a red coat speaking to a political convention labeled as being in Chicago in an arena decorated with a communist hammer and sickle. There was no caption.
The image looks obviously A.I. to those who aren’t fooled by A.I.-generated Jesus and other engagement bait, and one can argue it’s but a political cartoon spit out by a computer. But it’s also part of a turn by Trump to increasingly use A.I. content.
On Thursday, Trump posted an A.I. video of him dancing to The Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” with Elon Musk, and on Truth Social Sunday, he posted a screenshot that showed A.I.-generated images of young women in “Swifties for Trump” tees. The screenshot Trump shared claimed these Swifties were supporting Trump following the foiled attack ahead of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stop in Vienna. It’s labeled “satire.”
Other Swift-themed images in Trump’s post showed an A.I.-generated Swift dressed as Uncle Sam with the text “Taylor Wants You to Vote for Donald Trump” and what appears to be a genuine (??) photo of a single woman in a “Swifties for Trump” shirt. “I accept!” Trump wrote, but I have a feeling Swift would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.
Trump’s use of A.I. content comes after he falsely accused Harris of using A.I. to edit images of her crowd and amid questions about rules regarding A.I. in political ads. The Federal Election Commission won’t make rules about A.I. in campaign ads this year, leaving enforcement up to the platforms that run political ads and content.
Have you seen this?
Harris campaign launches $370 million fall ad push in key battlegrounds. During the nine-week sprint leading up to Election Day, the Harris campaign is reserving $170 million in TV ads and $200 million for digital ads on platforms like Hulu, Roku, YouTube, Paramount, Spotify and Pandora. [CNBC]
DNC lineup: Who's speaking and what to expect. The themes of each night are “For the People,” “A Bold Vision for America's Future,” “A Fight for Our Freedoms,” and “For Our Future.” [Axios]
Bronze statue of John Lewis replaces Confederate monument in Georgia. A large bronze statue of the late civil rights icon leader and Georgia congressman was installed Friday, at the very spot where a contentious monument to the confederacy stood for more than 110 years in the town square before it was dismantled in 2020. [Politico]
Shepard Fairey made a portrait of Kamala Harris. Fairey, the artist behind the Barack Obama “Hope” poster, released a poster of the vice president last Thursday that reads “Forward.” In an Instagram post, Fairey said he believes Harris and Walz “are our best chance to move forward. They are our best chance to push back on encroaching fascism and threats to democracy.” The reference photo for the portrait is a 2020 photo of Harris rebutting the Republican National Convention and highlighting Trump’s failure fighting COVID-19 taken by Biden for President photographer Lawrence Jackson. Fairey said he was not paid for his work and the poster is available free non-commercially.
The Harris-Walz logo just got a haircut, but you can barely tell. The crossbar in the H in “Harris” has been centered, and the legs in the Rs were reshaped, while “Walz” got a little taller. [Yello]
History of political design
Biden ‘88 “Leadership for the Future” button (1987). More than 30 years before he won the 2020 election, then-Sen. Joe Biden’s (D-Del.) short-lived 1988 campaign included items like this button. Biden is scheduled to speak tonight as well as first lady Jill Biden.
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