Hillary Clinton and Anna Wintour in 2013 / AP
Hillary Clinton has turned to the fashion elite in order to hock T-shirts and make money for her presidential campaign.
Vogue editor and top Clinton bundler Anna Wintour sent an email to Clinton supporters on Wednesday encouraging them to check out designer T-shirts in the Clinton campaign’s "Made for History" collection, which Wintour helped produce.
"It includes beautiful pieces by my friends Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, Maxwell Osborne, and Dao-Yi Chow. Wearing these American-made items is a wonderful way to show your support for Hillary. If you’re with her, I hope you’ll take a moment to look through the collection," Wintour wrote in the email.
The "Made for History" graphic T-shirts, available in three designs, cost $45 each. T-Shirt Magazine, which bills itself at the "ultimate t-shirt blog," puts T-shirts priced at $45 among the "upscale" designs typically associated with "luxury, affluence, and sophistication." These shirts are generally targeted to a celebrity clientele, the website said.
Wintour is among Clinton’s so-called "Hillblazers," a group of individuals who have each raised $100,000 or more in contributions for her presidential campaign. Most recently, Wintour helped Clinton’s daughter Chelsea fundraise for the former secretary of state in London.
Tory Burch, known for her high-priced shoes and clothing, hosted a fundraiser for Clinton at her mansion in the Hamptons last August, an event that was attended by Wintour and other celebrities from the fashion world. Tickets cost $1,000 and $2,700 each.
Clinton’s association with wealthy fashion industry insiders could fuel criticisms that she is out of touch with the American public. Currently, one-fifth of likely Democratic primary voters do not believe that Clinton cares about the needs and problems of people like them, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this month. A similar share of likely Democratic voters do not think that she shares their values.
Wintour’s effort to sell the T-shirts comes at a time when Clinton is facing fundraising difficulties. While Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), her socialist competitor for the nomination, has witnessed an influx of small-money donations following impressive performances in Iowa and New Hampshire, Clinton’s large contributions from donors in Hollywood and other wealthy areas have started to dry up, the Los Angeles Times reported this week.
