In spite of a White House official saying, “It’s a jacket. There was no hidden message,” Trump later came out and completely contradicted that. “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” written on the back of Melania’s jacket, refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!” the president said in a tweet.
In response to the infamous jacket, fashion brands are sending a loud-and-clear message with their own versions of the jacket, this time with a more optimistic message. Wildfang, a female-founded clothing brand, created an almost exact replica, except this time the jacket reads, “I REALLY CARE, DON’T U?” The company released three models of the jacket along with a matching T-shirt. All proceeds from the sales will go towards the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES).
Another clothing brand, PSA Supply Co., the apparel company owned by Upworthy and GOOD, debuted a T-shirt with “I REALLY DO CARE, DON’T U?” emblazoned on the back. 100 percent of the shirt’s proceeds will be donated to United We Dream, an immigrant-led organization that fights for justice for all immigrants.
Lingua Franca, a sustainable luxury cashmere line, created a response in the form of a blue sweater, stitched simply with “We care a lot.” The brand said they would donate $100 from the sale of each sweater to a charity of the buyer’s choosing.
The clothing created as a response to Melania Trump’s jacket answers the question the garment posed. As Rhonda Garelick of The Cut wrote:
We are living in a time of secrets all around us, secrets that suggest that those in power do not “really care” about us or anything they’re doing. Let us also take note of the less-analyzed, final two words of Melania’s graffiti message, the “Do u?” and consider it a call to arms, and answer yes: Yes, we do care.