HILLARY TRIES ANEW GAMBIT TO RAISE FUNDS
Marc Jacobs Tees Flying Off Shelves
By LUIZA Ch. SAVAGE Staff Reporter of the Sun
E-mail this article
WASHINGTON — Senator Clinton’s newest fund-raising gambit is selling supporters a $55 T-shirt by fashion designer Marc Jacobs, featuring the former first lady’s face in the style of iconic silk-screens of Marilyn Monroe and Chairman Mao.
“Your new wardrobe will reveal only your politics,†is the pitch for the T-shirts that were selling by the hundreds yesterday at the Marc Jacobs flagship store in SoHo and on the Web site friendsofhillary.com.
Dubbed “New York’s dauphin of grungy, understated cool†by Vogue magazine, Mr. Jacobs depicts Mrs. Clinton in contrasting colors of purple, orange, pink, gray, powder blue, red, and brown. His design evokes the Marilyn and Mao portrait series created by popartist Andy Warhol in the 1960s and ’70s.
“Most curators and people who have written about his work see it as making a pop star into an icon,†said the assistant curator at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Matt Wrbican.
“Some people consider the repetition to be about things that are boring,†he added.
Each limited-edition shirt comes with a Marc Jacobs “I •Hillary†tag sewn inside and was printed by a union printer, according to Friends of Hillary.
The T-shirts are manufactured in Los Angeles by the American Apparel company, which markets itself as “sweatshop-free †and offers its workers $10-an-hour wages and perks such as free massages. The company says it is creating a “new American dream†and “advancing a hyper capitalist-socialist business fusion,†but a major labor union accuses it of old-fashioned “union-busting.â€
The project came about several months ago when the Marc Jacobs company president, Robert Duffy, approached Mrs. Clinton’s campaign committee, Friends of Hillary, said a political aide to Mrs. Clinton, Patti Solis Doyle.
“They said they love Hillary and wanted to do this,†she said. “Hillary was flattered and pleased, and we were happy to be able to get it done.â€
A spokeswoman for Mr. Jacobs confirmed the account, but declined to comment further yesterday.
In a statement, Mr. Duffy said,“Senator Clinton is smart,compassionate,fair, and knows how to work with everyone in the interest of getting things done. She is the type of person I would like to have leading New York into the future!â€
While Mr. Jacobs’s T-shirts can sell for hundreds of dollars, the longsleeved version of the Clinton shirt sells for $60 and the short-sleeved one is $5 less. All payments are considered campaign contributions.
Federal law restricts individual campaign contributions to a political campaign to a maximum of $2,000, but there is no limit on gifts of high-priced fashion design or brand imprimatur.
“As long as the fashion designer is not getting paid [by the campaign] or by someone else, he can donate his talents,†said a Federal Election Commission spokesman, Ian Stirton.
The FEC treats Mr. Jacobs’s labors identically to those of campaign volunteers who make phone calls or canvass door-to-door for political candidates,he said.
“Whatever talents you bring are your business,†he said.
The Web site said the T-shirts are a “collector’s item.â€
Ms. Doyle said the number ordered would depend on demand.The Web site had received 200 orders by midday yesterday. “They’re very cute,†she said.
Asked to speculate whether Warhol, who died in 1987, would create a portrait of the senator if he were still alive, the Warhol Museum’s Mr. Wrbican answered “probably.â€
He said the artist and filmmaker would create portraits “if it was a commission.â€
Warhol’s oeuvre includes portraits of the Kennedys and the Carters, as well as a portrait of President Richard Nixon rendered in what Mr. Wrbican termed “hideous greens and oranges.†The Nixon portrait was captioned, “Vote McGovern.â€
Mrs. Clinton said in a statement that she is “very excited†about the T-shirts, which she called “such a fun and fashionable way to support our efforts.â€
“This opportunity is indicative of the innovative approach people like Marc are taking to support change in our country,†she said.
Ms. Doyle said Mrs. Clinton had recently visited a Marc Jacobs store in New York, but she said she was not privy to what, if anything, the senator purchased.
This is not the first time a politician has appropriated the Warhol look to raise funds.
Plastered on T-shirts during the 2001 Massachusetts gubernatorial race was a Warholesque series of faces of Steven Grossman. Mr. Grossman later attracted attention as the national campaign chairman of Howard Dean who abruptly and publicly left the Dean campaign this week.
A Democratic political consultant, Adam Hurtubise, who worked on the Grossman campaign, called Mrs. Clinton’s T-shirts “a terrific move.â€
“Andy Warhol was very serious but he didn’t want people to take him too seriously.This is in the same vein,â€he said of Mrs. Clinton’s foray into fashion. “She’s doing a great job as senator,but she’s not afraid to use a little bit of self-deprecating humor.â€
The T-shirts left one group ill-humored, however.
Officials at the New York-based Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, Unite, said they faced “a vicious anti-union campaign†last autumn when they tried to unionize the Los Angeles plant of American Apparel, the T-shirts’ manufacturer.
“She should use a company that respects workers’ rights to organize,†a Unite spokesman, Steve Wishart, said of Mrs. Clinton.
Unite officials emphasized that they consider Mrs. Clinton to be a wellmeaning “friend of labor,†but they complained that American Apparel was dining out on a reputation for social consciousness that they said is illdeserved.
While conceding that the $10 dollar an hour average wages paid to the company’s workers are high by industry standards, the union said workers complained about a lack of paid leave days, an exhausting pace of work, and lack of job security.
American Apparel last week settled a union-busting complaint that Unite had made to the National Labor Relations Board.
A senior partner in American Apparel, Dov Charney, said the union’s allegations are “ludicrous†and that their complaint was a “sham†driven by selfinterest.
He said his company has waiting list of 2,000 workers because his wages are three times as high as in other Los Angeles garment factories.
“I have people begging me to hire their relatives,†he said.
The 35-year-old entrepreneur said he gives workers his cell phone number and maintains an open door policy on complaints.
He said his company has been targeted because it shows the unions are not necessary to create a positive work environment.
“Unions are one model, and there are other models of cooperation. We are passionate about making sure our workers love working at the company,†he said. “This is a huge success story that challenges the concept that in order for a company to claim that its workers are well treated they have to be unionized.
He said Unite is seeking union dues to support “their huge bureaucracy and political interests.â€
“It’s a huge conspiracy to funnel money to their political candidates who then owe them a favor,†he said.
Mr. Charnery said his company is “paving a Third Wayâ between socialism and capitalism.
He encourages his workers to participate in immigration rights rallies, and provide free English as a second language classes, but acknowledges he does not provide paid vacations because he is competing with sweat shops “that don’t even pay minimum wage.â€
Marc Jacobs Tees Flying Off Shelves
By LUIZA Ch. SAVAGE Staff Reporter of the Sun
E-mail this article
WASHINGTON — Senator Clinton’s newest fund-raising gambit is selling supporters a $55 T-shirt by fashion designer Marc Jacobs, featuring the former first lady’s face in the style of iconic silk-screens of Marilyn Monroe and Chairman Mao.
“Your new wardrobe will reveal only your politics,†is the pitch for the T-shirts that were selling by the hundreds yesterday at the Marc Jacobs flagship store in SoHo and on the Web site friendsofhillary.com.
Dubbed “New York’s dauphin of grungy, understated cool†by Vogue magazine, Mr. Jacobs depicts Mrs. Clinton in contrasting colors of purple, orange, pink, gray, powder blue, red, and brown. His design evokes the Marilyn and Mao portrait series created by popartist Andy Warhol in the 1960s and ’70s.
“Most curators and people who have written about his work see it as making a pop star into an icon,†said the assistant curator at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Matt Wrbican.
“Some people consider the repetition to be about things that are boring,†he added.
Each limited-edition shirt comes with a Marc Jacobs “I •Hillary†tag sewn inside and was printed by a union printer, according to Friends of Hillary.
The T-shirts are manufactured in Los Angeles by the American Apparel company, which markets itself as “sweatshop-free †and offers its workers $10-an-hour wages and perks such as free massages. The company says it is creating a “new American dream†and “advancing a hyper capitalist-socialist business fusion,†but a major labor union accuses it of old-fashioned “union-busting.â€
The project came about several months ago when the Marc Jacobs company president, Robert Duffy, approached Mrs. Clinton’s campaign committee, Friends of Hillary, said a political aide to Mrs. Clinton, Patti Solis Doyle.
“They said they love Hillary and wanted to do this,†she said. “Hillary was flattered and pleased, and we were happy to be able to get it done.â€
A spokeswoman for Mr. Jacobs confirmed the account, but declined to comment further yesterday.
In a statement, Mr. Duffy said,“Senator Clinton is smart,compassionate,fair, and knows how to work with everyone in the interest of getting things done. She is the type of person I would like to have leading New York into the future!â€
While Mr. Jacobs’s T-shirts can sell for hundreds of dollars, the longsleeved version of the Clinton shirt sells for $60 and the short-sleeved one is $5 less. All payments are considered campaign contributions.
Federal law restricts individual campaign contributions to a political campaign to a maximum of $2,000, but there is no limit on gifts of high-priced fashion design or brand imprimatur.
“As long as the fashion designer is not getting paid [by the campaign] or by someone else, he can donate his talents,†said a Federal Election Commission spokesman, Ian Stirton.
The FEC treats Mr. Jacobs’s labors identically to those of campaign volunteers who make phone calls or canvass door-to-door for political candidates,he said.
“Whatever talents you bring are your business,†he said.
The Web site said the T-shirts are a “collector’s item.â€
Ms. Doyle said the number ordered would depend on demand.The Web site had received 200 orders by midday yesterday. “They’re very cute,†she said.
Asked to speculate whether Warhol, who died in 1987, would create a portrait of the senator if he were still alive, the Warhol Museum’s Mr. Wrbican answered “probably.â€
He said the artist and filmmaker would create portraits “if it was a commission.â€
Warhol’s oeuvre includes portraits of the Kennedys and the Carters, as well as a portrait of President Richard Nixon rendered in what Mr. Wrbican termed “hideous greens and oranges.†The Nixon portrait was captioned, “Vote McGovern.â€
Mrs. Clinton said in a statement that she is “very excited†about the T-shirts, which she called “such a fun and fashionable way to support our efforts.â€
“This opportunity is indicative of the innovative approach people like Marc are taking to support change in our country,†she said.
Ms. Doyle said Mrs. Clinton had recently visited a Marc Jacobs store in New York, but she said she was not privy to what, if anything, the senator purchased.
This is not the first time a politician has appropriated the Warhol look to raise funds.
Plastered on T-shirts during the 2001 Massachusetts gubernatorial race was a Warholesque series of faces of Steven Grossman. Mr. Grossman later attracted attention as the national campaign chairman of Howard Dean who abruptly and publicly left the Dean campaign this week.
A Democratic political consultant, Adam Hurtubise, who worked on the Grossman campaign, called Mrs. Clinton’s T-shirts “a terrific move.â€
“Andy Warhol was very serious but he didn’t want people to take him too seriously.This is in the same vein,â€he said of Mrs. Clinton’s foray into fashion. “She’s doing a great job as senator,but she’s not afraid to use a little bit of self-deprecating humor.â€
The T-shirts left one group ill-humored, however.
Officials at the New York-based Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, Unite, said they faced “a vicious anti-union campaign†last autumn when they tried to unionize the Los Angeles plant of American Apparel, the T-shirts’ manufacturer.
“She should use a company that respects workers’ rights to organize,†a Unite spokesman, Steve Wishart, said of Mrs. Clinton.
Unite officials emphasized that they consider Mrs. Clinton to be a wellmeaning “friend of labor,†but they complained that American Apparel was dining out on a reputation for social consciousness that they said is illdeserved.
While conceding that the $10 dollar an hour average wages paid to the company’s workers are high by industry standards, the union said workers complained about a lack of paid leave days, an exhausting pace of work, and lack of job security.
American Apparel last week settled a union-busting complaint that Unite had made to the National Labor Relations Board.
A senior partner in American Apparel, Dov Charney, said the union’s allegations are “ludicrous†and that their complaint was a “sham†driven by selfinterest.
He said his company has waiting list of 2,000 workers because his wages are three times as high as in other Los Angeles garment factories.
“I have people begging me to hire their relatives,†he said.
The 35-year-old entrepreneur said he gives workers his cell phone number and maintains an open door policy on complaints.
He said his company has been targeted because it shows the unions are not necessary to create a positive work environment.
“Unions are one model, and there are other models of cooperation. We are passionate about making sure our workers love working at the company,†he said. “This is a huge success story that challenges the concept that in order for a company to claim that its workers are well treated they have to be unionized.
He said Unite is seeking union dues to support “their huge bureaucracy and political interests.â€
“It’s a huge conspiracy to funnel money to their political candidates who then owe them a favor,†he said.
Mr. Charnery said his company is “paving a Third Wayâ between socialism and capitalism.
He encourages his workers to participate in immigration rights rallies, and provide free English as a second language classes, but acknowledges he does not provide paid vacations because he is competing with sweat shops “that don’t even pay minimum wage.â€
