Ivanka Trump is shutting down her eponymous fashion brand to focus on her work in the White House.
The news reported by the Wall Street Journal comes more than a year after the 36-year-old first daughter formally separated from the company to move to Washington, D.C. to work as one of her father President Donald Trump’s White House senior advisers.
‘When we first started this brand, no one could have predicted the success that we would achieve,’ Ivanka said in a statement.
Saying goodbye: Ivanka Trump, 36, has announced she is closing her namesake fashion brand
‘After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington, so making this decision now is the only fair outcome for my team and partners.’
According to the outlet, Abigial Klem, the brand’s current president, informed its 18 employees on Tuesday that the company is closing, and Ivanka is set to speak with the staffers later in the day.
Abigail took over for Ivanka after she separated herself from the management and operations of the company, IT Collection LLC, after her father was elected president.
However, Ivanka has retained her ownership interest through a trust, and the brand has been unable to break free from its associations with its namesake and the Trump family’s politics.
The Ivanka Trump brand includes apparel, shoes, handbags, and jewelry, and it’s namesake has been one of its greatest promoters.
The goods: The Ivanka Trump brand includes apparel, shoes, handbags, and jewelry. Ivanka is pictured attending the launch of Ivanka Trump footwear at Macy’s Herald Square in 2011
New role: Ivanka said she is unsure if she will ever return to the fashion business, and noted she will be focusing on her work in Washington, D.C. for the ‘foreseeable future’
Ivanka famously wore a $158 pink dress from her own line to introduce her father at the 2016 Republican National Convention, and sales soared during the presidential election.
At the start of her presidency, she often wore outfits from her own line to work, and while she has since switched to designer labels for her clothes, she still dons her brand’s shoes and handbags.
However, public backlash over her father’s policies led on anti-Trump group to call for a boycott of stores and websites selling Trump-branded products last year and many dropped the brand, citing weak sales.
Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus are among the stores that have stopped selling the brand over the past 18 months, and this week Canadian department store Hudson’s Bay removed more than 150 Ivanka Trump-branded items from its website.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the decision to shutter the brand has been on Ivanka’s mind in recent months because she has been growing frustrated by the restrictions she placed on the company to avoid potential conflicts of interest while working in the White House.