As tradition dictates, the gown worn by the First Lady to the President’s inauguration ball will, once it has finished being eyeballed, eventually wind its way to Washington’s Smithsonian museum, to be preserved as part of history. Since the precedent was set in 1912 by Helen Taft, wife of the 27th US president William Howard Taft, more than 35 gowns have taken up residence in the museum’s First Ladies Collection (including a dress from the first ever First Lady, Martha Washington, dating back to the 1780s). Others featured include those worn by Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacqueline Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama.
Soon, they will be joined by the graphic black-and-white gown worn by Melania Trump – her second entry into the canon, and an undeniable coup for the designer whose creative talents she showcased on a global stage. Did Melania choose her beloved Dior? Or, in a bid to be patriotic, perhaps a high-profile American label such as Oscar de la Renta, or a lesser-known name whose career she could boost, in an echo of Michelle Obama’s 2009 choice of Jason Wu? Melania’s pick was certainly lesser-known. Step forward Herve Pierre Braillard, who designs under the name Herve Pierre.
Pierre, 59, once worked at Balmain, Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera, but has been focused on overseeing Melania’s wardrobe since she first entered the White House in 2017, and was retained as her stylist and wardrobe adviser after she left it. Having designed h.