It’s no secret that women in politics don’t have it easy. From worrying about the persistent sexism that plagues our political system and the media surrounding it to normal worries about campaigning and garnering support from the people, the last thing a woman running for office would want to worry about is her clothing. For a woman in the public eye, especially one on the campaign trail, being well-dressed is a necessity. While men can wear a simple suit and tie, women are faced with a more difficult clothing decision before stepping up to the podium. From Jeannette Rankin, the first woman to serve in Congress in the early 20th century, all the way to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, women in politics cannot seem to escape fashion scrutiny. Rather than focusing on their platform, many news outlets choose instead to ridicule what the candidate is wearing. During Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential run, her pantsuits were criticized almost as often as her politics.
Women’s workwear company, M.M. LaFleur, knows the struggle women in politics face when it comes to fashion. In an Instagram post and recent email to its customers, the company announced that it would be providing free clothing for any woman running for public office during this election term.
As a businesswoman herself, M.M. LaFleur’s founder, Sarah LaFleur, knows the struggle women in the workplace face when searching for a professional wardrobe. Women’s fashion is ever-changing, and professional clothing is no exception. Finding pieces that are both appropriate for work, professional-looking and comfortable can be extremely difficult on its own, but even more so when styles come and go. LaFleur and Miyako Nakamura, a former designer at Zac Posen, started the company with the mission, “to take the work out of dressing for work.” Since its founding in 2011, the company has built a name for itself due to many sold out items and dressing clients like Cynthia Nixon, who played Miranda Hobbes on Sex and the City and ran for governor of New York in 2018. One of M.M. LaFleur’s dresses even garnered a 1,600-person waitlist.
However, like many other brands of reliable women’s workwear, M.M. LaFleur’s clothing isn’t cheap. Many women running or thinking of running for office may be hindered due to limited access to professional clothing. AOC herself, in a recent Instagram story praising LaFleur’s new initiative, remarked that she needed an entirely new professional wardrobe and ended up having to wear hand-me-downs from friends. “When I was running for office (even now!), accessing clothing for the job was a big challenge both logistically and financially. As a candidate, a large part of asking people to vote for you is helping them visualize you on the job,” she wrote.
Women hoping to participate in this initiative are encouraged to email readytorun@mmlafleur.com with their name, location and description of the office they’re running for, whether that’s a position on their city council or a seat in the House of Representatives. According to an article on The Washington Post, candidates will be provided with five outfits hand-selected for them by stylists at M.M. LaFleur and to ensure the donation is acceptable under campaign finance laws, Sarah LaFleur herself plans to buy the clothing and supply it to candidates as an individual, rather than from her company.
As M.M. LaFleur itself notes, clothing may not “move the needle on female representation,” which is a mere 27% in U.S. elected offices, but we have to start somewhere.
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