MAGA-themed fashion show goes viral as netizens discover it’s not a joke

By Abby Amoakuh

Published Sep 23, 2024 at 02:05 PM

Reading time: 2 minutes

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Image courtesy of David Todd McCarty via Unsplash

If you thought that things couldn’t possibly get any weirder this year, think again because September brought us a MAGA (Make America Great Again) themed fashion show. The event, held in an old warehouse in Ronkonkoma, New York, on 17 September 2024, was referred to as the America First Patriotic Designer Showcase.

Taking place during New York Fashion Week, the show welcomed a crowd of roughly 100 people at a cluster of suburban office parks on the hamlet on Long Island to witness Donald Trump-inspired fashion, makeup, and performances make their way down the runway.

This display included hats with rhinestones spelling “Make America Great Again,” sequined jackets emblazoned with slogans like “MAGA” and “Swifties for Trump” (Despite Taylor Swift’s public endorsement of Kamala Harris), and gowns, including a red-and-white striped number with “2024, America’s Comeback!” written on its full skirt.

Of course, the featured colours were mostly red, white and blues in line with the American flag. There were also more direct Trump references on the products with captions such as “Fight, Fight, Fight” and gowns sprawled with the words “2024 America’s Comeback.”

MAGA is a nativist American political vision and movement popularised by Donald Trump during his successful 2016 presidential campaign. It echoes the sentiment that the country needs to be returned to its former glory and a simpler time, where racism was perfectly acceptable, there was only one right way to form a family, and men weren’t liable for sexual assault. You get the gist.

It’s needless that the internet didn’t quite understand what it was looking at when pictures of the fashion showcase first began going viral online. The knee-jerk reaction was to assume that the event was supposed to be satirical until the more shocking revelation crept in that these people in bedazzled hotpants with the words “Make America Sparkle Again” were actually being serious.

The show took place just two days after a second assassination attempt on the former President and the night before his planned rally at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. In other words, the New York MAGA community was energised and in full swing, ready to shell out $375 to $500 for MAGA jackets.

According to The New York Times, the event showcased the sartorial evolution of a political movement that has always had fashion at its core.

From gun-inspired gear to golden clutches with “we the people” written on them, or a skirt depicting John Trumbull’s painting Declaration of Independence, MAGA has always communicated its political message through clothing. Unsurprisingly, every political movement has. The infamous pussy hats of the Women’s March, or the berets and leather jackets of the Black Panther movement are clear examples of this.

Thus Republican congress candidate Michael Zumbluskas attended the designer showcase to campaign before the election in November. The politician called out the “Tax the Rich” dress worn by Representative and squad member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) to the 2021 Met Gala dress as an example of the fashion industry’s Democratic bias, according to The Times.

Pointing to the MAGA jackets Zumbluskas said, “You think you can wear this at the Met Gala?”

So maybe this bold showcase of fanaticism and political fandom isn’t as weird in the grand scheme of this. Still, ‘normal’ also isn’t the word I’d use for a novelty bandeau top made of fake dollar bills and featuring Donald Trump’s face. But that’s just me.