正文
鱼和熊掌不可兼得 伊万卡时尚品牌关闭
自从老爸特朗普当选美国总统后,伊万卡的服装生意就陷入低谷,频频传出业绩下滑的消息但均被否认。在担任白宫高级顾问一年多后,伊万卡终于宣布解散服装公司,告别时尚产业。
President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, has decided to close down her fashion brand. The move comes over a year after she split from the company to enter the White House as a senior adviser.
在离开公司进入白宫担任高级顾问一年多后,美国总统特朗普的女儿伊万卡终于决定关闭自有时尚品牌。
最先报道这一消息的是《纽约邮报》:
The New York Post first reported on Tuesday that the company will be closing “ASAP” and that staff have been informed that they are being laid off. “It’s just never recovered since she stepped away from the company,” an insider told the Post’s Page Six.
《纽约邮报》24日首先报道称,伊万卡公司将尽快关闭,也已经向职员发出了解聘通知。一名内部人士告诉《纽约邮报》八卦版“第六页”说:“自从伊万卡离开公司后,生意就一直没有好转。”
众所周知,伊万卡天生丽质且衣品出众,一直走在时尚的最前沿,但如今她也有out of fashion的时候。
Ms Trump launched the brand in 2014, but after her father's election was faced with boycotts from shoppers.
伊万卡于2014年创立了该品牌,但自从父亲特朗普当选后,旗下品牌便受到消费者的抵制。
Ms Trump had reportedly become frustrated by the difficulties posed by avoiding possible conflicts of interest while serving in the White House.
据报道,伊万卡在白宫入职后就一直努力避免从政和从商二者间的利益冲突,并因为困难重重而倍感沮丧。
Ivanka Trump announced the closure of her namesake clothing, footwear and accessories brand, which had become a target of opponents of her father President Donald Trump, on July 24, 2018. After experiencing a sharp rise in sales in 2016, the brand suffered a backlash after her father took office, and has been dropped by several retail chains. [Photo/VCG] A spokesperson for the company said the decision "has nothing to do with the performance of the brand and is based solely on Ivanka's decision to remain in Washington indefinitely."
伊万卡公司的一名发言人称,这一决定“与品牌的业绩无关,纯粹是考虑到伊万卡未来若干年都决定留在华盛顿。”
After 17 months in her White House role Ms Trump said she did not know "when or if I will ever return to the business".
在担任白宫顾问长达17个月后,伊万卡表示自己不知道“什么时候或是否会重返时尚产业”。
"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," Ivanka Trump said in a statement.
伊万卡在一份声明中说:“不过我知道,在可预见的未来,我的工作重心将会在华盛顿,所以现在做出这个决定对我的团队和合作伙伴是唯一公平的结果。”
According to NBC News, Ms Trump met personally with her 18-person staff at Trump Tower in New York City after the company's closure was announced to employees.
根据NBC新闻的报道,在发出公司关闭的通知后,伊万卡在纽约市特朗普大厦亲自会见了公司的18人团队。
Merchandise sits on the shelves inside a closed Ivanka Trump Store in the lobby of Trump Tower, July 24, 2018 in New York City. [Photo/VCG] 虽然伊万卡坚称关闭公司是为从政考虑,但其实公司本身早已举步维艰。
The brand had already been dropped by several retailers such as the Nordstrom chain and - just last week - Canada's largest department store chain Hudson's Bay.
该品牌已经被诺德斯特龙连锁百货等数家零售商抛弃,就在上周,加拿大最大连锁百货公司哈德逊湾也和伊万卡解除了合同。
Both companies blamed poor sales for their decision.
诺德斯特龙和哈德逊湾都将终止合作归咎于品牌销售业绩不佳。
Ms Trump's company is private and does not release sales figures.
伊万卡的公司为私有,所以不曾公布销售数据。
But according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited research from Rakuten Intelligence, online sales at Amazon, Macy's and Bloomingdales fell almost 45% in the year to June.
但《华尔街日报》援引乐天情报公司的调研数据称,截止今年6月,伊万卡品牌在亚马逊、梅西百货和布鲁明戴尔百货的网店销售额年比下跌近45%。
An investigation by the Washington Post last year found that virtually all of Ms Trump's clothing was manufactured in developing countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and China.
《华盛顿邮报》去年的调查发现,几乎所有伊万卡品牌的服装都是在孟加拉国、印尼和中国等发展中国家制造的。
A spokesperson for the firm told the Wall Street Journal that the fall was due to a tough comparison against last year when sales soared after Donald Trump became president.
该公司的一名发言人告诉《华尔街日报》说,业绩下滑是因为去年特朗普当选总统时产品销量大涨而形成的落差。
The reported sales surge last year came after Kellyanne Conway, a counsellor to President Trump, was accused of breaking ethics rules by promoting Ivanka Trump products during a live TV interview from the White House.
去年伊万卡品牌的“销量大涨”和特朗普顾问凯利安妮•康威在白宫接受电视直播访谈时推销伊万卡的产品不无关系,康威此举被指违反道德守则。
BBC网站截图 Ms Trump's fashion career started with the launch of her jewellery brand in 2007. She developed seven categories ranging from footwear and handbags to eyewear and fragrance over the next six years.
伊万卡于2007年推出了自有珠宝品牌,从此开始了她的时尚事业。在接下来的六年,伊万卡又推出了鞋、手包、眼镜、香水等七类产品。
Ms Trump herself imposed restrictions on how the company could operate when she moved to work for her father, including not expanding internationally and requiring the firm to obtain her approval before striking agreements with new domestic partners.
伊万卡在入白宫为父亲工作前,曾对公司的经营方式作出了限制,包括不能向国外扩张,以及和新的国内合作伙伴敲定合同前要征得她的许可。
The company said these restrictions limited the company's ability to grow and meant winding down the business was the fairest option for the brand's partners and its employees.
公司称,这些规定限制了公司的发展,因此关闭公司对该品牌的合作伙伴和员工来说是最公平的选择。
The firm also said that Ms Trump would not agree to selling the brand since a third party was unlikely to adhere to the restrictions she had put in place.
公司还表示,伊万卡不同意卖掉该品牌,因为第三方无法遵守她所立下的限制性规定。
Current licensing agreements with partners will continue until the end of their period, meaning the company's products would continue for now to be sold at US stores such as Bloomingdales, Zappos and Amazon, the firm said.
公司称,与合作方的许可协议会履行直至到期,这意味着伊万卡公司的产品目前还会继续在布鲁明戴尔百货、Zappos和亚马逊销售。
A clothing item made by the Ivanka Trump brand is seen for sale at a Marshalls department store in Queens, New York, July 24, 2018. [Photo/VCG] 伊万卡公司销售业绩连连下滑直至倒闭,她的老爸特朗普似乎脱不了干系。
Shannon Coulter, co-founder of the #GrabYourWallet campaign which has targeted brands with ties to the Trump administration, said she was not surprised by the news.
致力于打击和特朗普政府有关品牌的#抓紧你的钱包活动的共同创立者香农•库尔特表示,听到这一消息并不感到惊讶。
"This news is a direct result of the Trump administration’s immigration policy and the forceable removal of kids from their parents,” she said. “It is really clear that when this administration shows its xenophobic, racist tendencies, retailers come under increasing pressure to distance themselves from these brands.”
她说:“伊万卡公司关闭是特朗普政府的移民政策以及强迫孩子和父母分离的直接结果。当政府表现出仇外和种族主义倾向时,零售商将在不断增加的压力下和这些品牌划清界限,这一事实再明显不过了。”
She pointed to Nordstrom’s decision to ditch Trump, which came shortly after Trump announced his first Muslim travel ban, and more recently Hudson Bay, the Canadian retailer which severed ties after Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Canadian goods.
她指出,在特朗普宣布第一条穆斯林旅行禁令之后不久,诺德斯特龙就决定和伊万卡品牌终止合作。前不久在特朗普对加拿大商品加征关税后,加拿大零售商哈德逊湾也和伊万卡品牌解除了合同。
有这样的老爹,想要兼顾从商和从政是不可能了。虽然伊万卡的时尚事业结束了,但是她明确表示未来数年的工作重心都将在华盛顿,没有了副业的牵绊,她可以专心从政,也许就此诞生一颗美国政坛新星也未可知。