Source: Women’s Wear Daily*
From “The Donald, Fashionista” by Dolly Haze, Women’s Wear Daily, September 2, 1997
Billionaire Donald Trump, real estate mogul, casino magnate, hotelier, pageant owner, fight promoter, best selling author, magazine publisher and game maker, has added another hat to his rack: the rag trade.
On Monday, Trump introduced a new line of girl juniors he’s calling Trump’s Top Teen, inspired by “the most beautiful and hottest girls throughout history,” according to John Miller, communications director for the project.
At a selectively attended runway show at Trump Tower, Trump debuted four of the looks in his signature line. The event ran long because between each presentation the sole model of the show, his daughter Ivanka, had to change and redo her hair and make-up.
Miller said the line will eventually expand to “dozens, maybe, they say, maybe thousands of outfits. [Trump] gets ideas all the time. He has gone out with only the most beautiful women, the most successful women — all women love Donald Trump. So he knows what looks good on a woman, or girl, a lot more than these… well, a lot of fashion men don’t have a lot of experience with women, or girls, not like [Trump has.]”
As part of the marketting plan, beginning in 1998 the Miss Teen USA pageant, owned by Trump, will include a Top Teen competition with each contestant wearing an original costume representing the aesthetics of the line, which will be wholly owned by the LLC.
Trump’s Top Teen will be distributed by Trump Best Apparel, a limited liability corporation based in the Virgin Islands. Joseph Epstein, the playboy owner of the Financial Trust Company, is a financial partner in the endeavor, but “a silent partner. Completely silent. He doesn’t know anything about this kind of thing. I mean…. No comment,” said Miller. Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the media legend Robert Maxwell, will serve as a Senior Vice President , responsible for model procurement and other as yet undefined responsibilities.
Miller said the ready-to-wear line will be available in “all the big stores, Norstrom’s and so many others.”
* A parody