Melania's 'sharpie' dress had sketches by child sex abuse victims, claim Trump supporters. That's a LIE!
After Melania Trump was trolled for the Alexander McQueen dress she wore on July 3 for an event in Mount Rushmore, celebrating Independence Day, some of Trump's supporters pointed out that the dress in question had "sketches drawn by victims of child sexual abuse" on it. However, the claim was recently proven to be false.
Melania was seen wearing a white sleeveless dress paired with a black belt, featuring a pattern with random lines all over. On noticing the first lady's attire for the evening, Internet users quickly took to Twitter to mock her. A majority of them used the opportunity to make fun of Trump, saying he is responsible for the lines on Melania’s dress.
One user joked, "Donald Trump got bored and drew all over Melania's white dress with a sharpie on Air Force One." Another took a dig at the first lady’s dress saying, “Apparently Trump tried to draw a hurricane path on Melania's dress." Another user expressed their disapproval of her dress saying, "What the f**k is up with Melania's dress? Looks like abstract drawings of nudes, or somebody let #Trump have possession of a Sharpie again."
Many of Trump supporters, however stood up in defense of the first lady. "Social media made fun of Melania's dress last night saying president Trump scribbled on it with a marker. It is a dress designed by Alexander McQueen using sketches drawn by victims of child sexual abuse to describe their feelings. Our first lady is incredible," said a tweet. Posts like these started going viral on social media.
However, the claim that the dress featured drawings by children who had been victims of sexual abuse is not true. According to Express, the dress actually included sketches done by students during a life drawing class. It was developed by McQueen in collaboration with art students. The designs, which were inspired by life drawings, is hand-stitched onto the linen dress. The dress was designed for the brand’s Spring 2020 collection.
Another article published in Glass magazine in May 2020, reported that the sketches on the dress were designed by students from the London arts and design college, Central Saint Martins, who made “continuous, spontaneous sketches” of dancing girls. The life-drawing class held at the educational space at the Alexander McQueen London flagship store last year.
Sarah Burton, the director of the Alexader McQueen fashion brand, also noted that the dress had a deeper meaning as the entire team contributed to hand stitch the design. It was almost conceptualized as a mass crafting experiment. The dress was such a success that it inspired another dress in moonshine blue linen.
“We set up looms and everybody from the whole McQueen offices had a go at embroidering. Everybody came together to do it," she said. "There’s so much noise in the world, this was about having a moment to think and be as a studio and all work together on something. It was a calm time to work together and be with our own thoughts."
