January 18, 2021
Fashion Designers Create Biden Inauguration Merch
Started back in September with campaign swag, the “Believe in Better” collection just launched a new limited-edition capsule of shirts, jewelry and other merch to commemorate President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration is Wednesday, Jan. 20, and fashion-forward merch to commemorate the event has already rolled out online. A “Believe in Better” capsule collection on Biden’s inauguration site includes tie-dye sweatshirts, “unity” bead bracelets, charm necklaces, bucket hats and more.
The new limited-edition collection is a continuation of a merch line first launched back in September. The Biden-Kamala Harris campaign worked with more than a dozen high-profile American fashion designers, including Vera Wang, Jason Wu, Joseph Altuzarra and Aurora James, to create a slew of swag, all of which was manufactured in the U.S. at unionized factories.
The inauguration collection includes designs from Gabriela Hearst, Thakoon Panichgul, Joe Perez, Aurora James of Brother Vellies and Roxanne Assoulin. “We’re so excited to showcase these designs to commemorate this moment to heal our nation, bring our country together and build back better,” Maju Varghese, executive director of the presidential inauguration committee, told Elle.
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Perez designed a hoodie that features Biden’s and Harris’ faces on the back, along with a map of the U.S. and the words “A Time to Heal,” among other things.
Hearst created a sweatshirt in bold blue and red tie-dye, with a “46” patch on the sleeve to denote that Biden will be the 46th president and presidential seal patch on the chest. The sweatshirt echoes the tie-dye T-shirt Hearst designed for the September “Believe in Better” campaign merch collection.
Accessories designer Assoulin created bracelets with the message “unity” and “come together.” Both bracelet sets were sold out as of Monday, Jan. 18.
Other items in the collection include a pair of socks, designed by James, bearing the number 46. Panichgul designed a sweatshirt that proclaims “Unity won over division.”
“There haven’t been a lot of opportunities to design from a place of pure joy in the past year – but this was really that moment for me,” James told Elle. “And even when these socks are vintage, sitting in my drawer, they will symbolize this moment of collective freedom.”
Back in September, Vogue noted that Biden’s Believe in Better collection was the most varied offering of fashion designers working with a Democratic presidential campaign.