Melania Trump Says American Fashion “Can Lead”—While She’s Dressed in European Labels

First lady Melania Trump spoke at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, this morning as her gown from the 2025 inauguration was added to the museum’s collection and displayed in the First Ladies gallery. (Yes, it’s the gown you may be thinking of, particularly if you saw her documentary, Melania: the white one with the black squiggly line.)

Onstage, Trump spoke of the gown and its designer—her longtime stylist, the French American fashion designer Hervé Pierre—and of her commitment to fashion and her passion for it altogether. One of her most enduring signatures as a first lady will, after all, be her meticulously engineered look and her personal fascination with it: towering stilettos, severely cut skirt suits, and a penchant for black, in addition to a love for European fashion houses.

Trump, according to current Smithsonian secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, who spoke prior to her remarks, is the first first lady to be represented in the collection by two inaugural gowns in more than 100 years. “That’s really important to us,” Bunch said.

“Human nature resides in the discipline of detail. Everything is in the detail,” Trump said in her speech. “It’s a testament as to why America’s fashion industry can lead the rest of the world.” Notably, she “championed” the United States’ “fashion leadership,” to borrow wording from the release of remarks, while wearing not one but two European labels, as confirmed by the office of the first lady. It’s a detail that seems worth paying attention to.

It sent a message: that Trump either seemingly didn’t think it relevant that she was wearing a Bottega Veneta coat (Italian, retailing online for $4,300) with Christian Louboutin (French) snakeskin boots while speaking of how the American industry was leading the pack, or that she simply hadn’t thought of it to begin with. Considering how carefully curated her style is, though, we can presume that the first lady always knows exactly what she’s wearing and to where.