Biden in White House for 1st time as president
Mr. Biden made his Inauguration Day entrance in a Ralph Lauren suit, coat and mask — in, that is to say, a wardrobe by a Bronx-born designer who built his reputation on channeling the mythology of the American dream. Who, indeed, embodied it himself; who has dressed the United States Olympic team, helped restore The Star-Spangled Banner and worked with administrations both Democratic and Republican over the years.
Who represents bipartisan tradition and heritage and industry. With it, the president wore a blue tie (not so much a bright Democratic blue as a “true blue” blue) that harmonized with the blue tweed coat, dress and mask worn by Dr. Jill Biden. Her outfit had been created by Markarian, a brand founded only three years ago by a young designer named Alexandra O’Neill. Based in New York’s garment district, it was so fresh, it left even fashion folk scratching their heads.
Then there was Ms. Harris, who showcased the work of a different young Black independent designer in each of her inaugural appearances. If, as the first female vice president and the first Black woman vice president, she represents change and the future, so, too, did those choices.
If she and Mr. Biden were planning to use their first 100 days to put a new stimulus plan into action, she was using her first actual day to put her wardrobe where their words were.
First came the camel coat worn to the Covid memorial service, with its multitude of pleats falling from a wave at the back. It was created by Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss, a designer dedicated to putting Black Americans back at the center of the country’s cultural fables. He was among the first designers to organize distribution of PPE at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as to raise money to help small businesses crushed by lockdown.
Next was the bright purple coat and dress at the swearing-in designed by Christopher John Rogers, worn with Ms. Harris’s signature pearls (these from the Puerto Rican jeweler Wilfredo Rosado) and the politico’s little flag pin. Born in Louisiana, based in New York, and still in his 20s, Mr. Rogers has a penchant for combining old-time dressmaker detailing with high-octane glamour. And finally, for the evening, there was the black sequined dress under a tuxedo coat by Sergio Hudson, a designer working and manufacturing in Ms. Harris’s home state of California.
Next was the bright purple coat and dress at the swearing-in designed by Christopher John Rogers, worn with Ms. Harris’s signature pearls (these from the Puerto Rican jeweler Wilfredo Rosado) and the politico’s little flag pin. Born in Louisiana, based in New York, and still in his 20s, Mr. Rogers has a penchant for combining old-time dressmaker detailing with high-octane glamour. And finally, for the evening, there was the black sequined dress under a tuxedo coat by Sergio Hudson, a designer working and manufacturing in Ms. Harris’s home state of California.
So it went. There were numerous striking style moments: the red, white and blue celebrity troika of Lady Gaga in a giant Schiaparelli ball gown, Jennifer Lopez in snowy Chanel and Garth Brooks in jeans; the sunshine yellow Prada coat of Amanda Gorman, the youth poet laureate; Senator Bernie Sanders’ viral mittens. But most striking of all was the ubiquity of purple, which turned out to be practically the signature color of the inauguration.
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Perhaps because it combines the red and blue of recent political schism into a unified whole (the theme of inauguration was, after all, “America United’). Perhaps because, along with white, it was one of the colors of the suffragists, and to wear it was to acknowledge the fulfillment of their dream embodied by Ms. Harris. Or perhaps because, as the National Woman’s Party (the original suffragist organization) wrote in a 1913 newsletter, “Purple is the color of loyalty, constancy to purpose, unswerving steadfastness to a cause.”
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