NEW YORK: Sales of Ivanka Trump´s clothing collection soared by nearly 61 pc in 2016, the company that manufactures products for the president´s daughter´s line and other brands said on Monday.
The figures from the G-III Apparel Group cover wholesale revenue from February 2016 through January 2017, the company said in a recently released annual report.
That means it did not have data for February when the department stores Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus dropped Trump´s clothing and accessories under pressure from the “Grab Your Wallet” boycott campaign, which maintains a list of companies that sell products or support her father Donald.
The stores´ decision prompted a controversy during which Trump´s counselor Kellyanne Conway called on viewers during a television interview to buy Ivanka Trump merchandise.
Critics said her comments highlighted the conflicts of interest of a White House run by the billionaire businessman advised by family members.
Ivanka Trump products generated revenue of $47.3 million in the reporting period, compared with $29.4 million the previous year.
The G-III Apparel Group– which also produces clothes for Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Levi´s and Karl Lagerfeld — said the Ivanka Trump brand is among the top three that contributed to an increase in its operating profit. That amounted to $840.9 million, against $836.8 million the year before.
Still, the Ivanka Trump brand represented only 1.97 percent of G-III Apparel´s total revenues.
But the results appear to contradict Nordstrom´s stated reason for dropping the Ivanka Trump line. The retailer had cited falling sales.
