The Obama campaign funded its message of hope for the middle class by selling designer scarves, purses, and T-shirts, according to the New York Post.
The Post wrote:
The program, dreamed up by Vogue editor Anna Wintour and called "Runway to Win," raised more than $40 million by hawking $45 Marc Jacobs T-shirts, $95 Thakoon Panichgul scarves, and $75 Tory Burch handbags at glitzy fund-raisers and on the campaign Web site.
The Post described the three fashionable items:
The Tory Burch bag featured Obama’s name printed multiple times on a black bag with the "O" in red. The Jacobs T-shirt said: "I vote Obama" with a circular print that resembled a campaign button or "I voted" sticker.
A Derek Lam-designed bag had red and purple geometric shapes — a far cry from the T-shirts and bumper stickers of campaigns past.
The Post noted that the Obama campaign was sensitive to criticism regarding one event: "The president did not show up at the fashion event and the press was barred."
Anna Wintour, Vogue Magazine’s editor-in-chief and a major donor and bundler for the Obama campaign, expressed satisfaction that the fashion industry was able to combat big-money interests in politics:
"It’s very rewarding to see that money can’t buy the White House, which is what the Republicans were trying to do with all those hundreds of millions of dollars that the Super PACs were raising. I’m so grateful that the president will have a second term."
Records show that Wintour donated $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee, $35,800 to the Obama Victory Fund, and a further $5,000 directly to the Obama campaign.