Introducing Argent, the new suiting brand that Hillary Clinton has been wearing on her visit to the UK
Hillary Clinton has used her visits to London and Cheltenham this weekend as an opportunity to bring a new American brand onto our British style radar; Argent.
Both of the bold blazers that Clinton wore on Saturday and Sunday were from the modern suiting start-up, which was founded just a year ago in New York by Sali Christeson and Eleanor Turner.
At the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Sunday, Clinton wore the brand’s Gingham Tie Blazer, priced at around ￡260, while for an appearance on The Andrew Marr Show, she chose their Patch Pocket Tie Blazer.
Co-founder Christeson, who had previously worked in the banking and technology sectors, decided to team up with Turner, a designer for Tory Burch and J.Crew, on a joint mission to make suits more exciting. Identifying what they call a ‘workwear joy gap’, their mismatched jacket and trouser combinations, vivid prints, and optional wrap belts aim to offer styling choices beyond the realms of traditional suiting.
Clinton’s backing is arguably the greatest endorsement that any new workwear brand could wish for, after she became synonymous with trouser suits during her 2016 presidential campaign. A ‘Pantsuit Nation’ fan community was founded on Facebook during the campaign (boasting around 3 million members) with Hillary-supporters sharing the reasons that they would vote for her, as well as paying attention to the symbolism in her her fashion choices - be they a ‘suffragette white’ suit, or one in ‘swing state purple’.
The designers had the opportunity to meet Clinton at a women’s conference in California, where the former candidate was giving her first major speech since losing out to Donald Trump. “We waited in line for a photo, and most people just took a quick selfie and moved on—but we talked to her for a few minutes and shared our product," Christeson told Vogue at the time. “We literally opened our blazers and said, ‘We make pantsuits!’”
“She got really excited because it’s been a personal frustration of hers," Christeson explained. "It’s such a headache for every woman to find suiting, so our message resonated.”
Huma Abedin, who served as the vice chair of Clinton’s presidential campaign, was also impressed with the businesswomen when they met, and has been seen wearing Argent suits on numerous work occasions.
Argent, which is stocked online as well as in pop-up shops across America, also creates dresses, skirts, coats and knitwear for its target audience of modern professional women. But, thanks to a certain famous fan, their signature piece will now forever be the pantsuits.