Top Fashion Designers Open Their Pocketbooks for Kamala Harris

Fashion has historically been split politically. 

Designers tended to lean liberal and support Democratic social causes, while executives have often favored Republicans and the promise of lower taxes and an easier regulatory hand. 

But a WWD spot check of political donations found that, while designers are still backing Democrats and Kamala Harris for president this election cycle, Republicans and Donald Trump are not feeling the love as much. 

Vera Wang, Michael Kors and Tory Burch ranked as the biggest individual political donors in fashion for the 2023-24 period and all gave heavily to Democrats, according to data from the Federal Election Commission. Spokespeople for Wang and Kors declined to comment, while a representative for Burch did not respond to WWD queries.

Wang has also supported Harris with merchandise, creating looks for the campaign’s “Designer for Democracy” initiative, which also includes styles from Ulla Johnson, Willy Chavarria, Prabal Gurung, Gabriela Hearst, Sergio Hudson and others.

Tim Boyle, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Columbia Sportswear Co., who criticized Trump while in office, gave to the Republican nominee’s primary rival Nikki Haley as well as Earl Blumenauer, a Democratic congressman from Oregon and others.

Beneath the surface — including giving from individuals, contributions from political action committees and soft money — the industry is spreading around its money more evenly, but still leaning left. 

Open Secrets, a nonprofit group tracking political donations, said retailers have donated $41.3 million this election cycle — a 47 percent decrease from $78.1 million spent during the hotly contested 2020 cycle and slightly below the $44.3 spent in 2016.

Retailer donations, which included giving from individuals, contributions from political action committees and soft money, favored Democrats, who received 58.5 percent of the industry’s overall donations in 2023 and 2024, according to Open Secrets.

Harris was the largest single recipient, receiving retailer donations of $2.7 million, while Trump took in $1.1 million from the industry. 

Open Secrets’ tally of spending from apparel companies showed similar trends, although the overall donations were smaller. The sector has given a total of $5.9 million this cycle, with 65 percent of that going to Democrats. 

Here, a look at the political donations from prominent fashion players.