Fashion Brand Reformation and Monica Lewinsky Say ‘Go Vote!’
Hello, I’m a marketing student at NYU. Join me as I explore through this blog the ins and outs of marketing, including digging deep on some of your favorite brands. You can read my intro post here, and my most recent post about Google’s massive deal with Reddit here.
Does fashion have a place in politics? Clothing brand Reformation says yes. In a new campaign, largely run through social media and Reformation’s website, the brand has partnered with Monica Lewinsky and vote.org to encourage US citizens to vote in the upcoming presidential election. Mixing consumerism with social responsibility is nothing new for a brand that’s all about avoiding waste in their production. Being cute and ethical is entirely Reformation’s thing. But probably not every brand could pull something like this off as well as Reformation can.
As election day is fast approaching, we’re likely to get quite a few ‘go vote’ campaigns soon enough. These can run the gamut from inspiring to perfunctory to even pandering. When major brands get involved in social issues, it can often feel like the latter. That’s mostly because it’s out of left field for them, but not for Reformation. Speaking up on what’s right has always been a part of their history.
The brand began by selling vintage clothes out of an LA storefront in 2009. Today, they produce their clothing largely out of low-impact materials, repurposed vintage clothing, and, most notably, rescued dead-stock materials (these are the leftover fabric that other brands throw out!). As it says in their bio on all of their social accounts, “Being naked is the #1 most sustainable option. We’re #2.”
It’s unsurprisingly a popular premise for a company as consumers, especially younger ones, are increasingly concerned with ethical purchasing. We want to feel good about the brands we buy from. With Reformation’s reputation, consumers are primed to take something like this in stride. It’s just enough in-line with the brand to work, while being just enough different to be eye-catching.
A key component of that eye-catching-ness? Monica Lewinsky.
Lewinsky has been a household name since her affair with President Bill Clinton while working as a White House intern led to Clinton being served with articles of impeachment. Since then, she has used her platform to be a staunch activist and political advocate. As we soon find ourselves drowning in pro-voting campaigns, many of them will have us scrolling right past. But a post featuring striking photos of Lewinsky in Reformation fits telling us to vote? Now that’s going to catch our attention.
The brand teased the upcoming campaign on their various social platforms a few days in advance to build hype. “We’re giving you the power. With some help from a friend. This Monday, 2/26,” reads the caption alongside a photo of Lewinsky from the back in some professional clothes. On February 26, the brand launched the campaign as promised.
Instagram has once again proved itself to be the best social media platform for visuals (X/Twitter, for example, is more text-based), and that’s where the brand has placed the main thrust of its campaign (though it has also posted on Twitter and Facebook), and also where it’s receiving the most engagement…by a lot. As of this writing, the post has garnered 38.6k likes and 2k comments, which is multiple times higher than most of their other posts.
In addition to the main post, they have a highlight reel with photos of Lewinsky paired with catchy sayings like “She’s been empowering women to use their voices for a long time…So it just makes sense that she’d help us do the same.” Reformation is also careful to tie the campaign back to their original mission. “Prioritizing people and the planet has always been a big part of what we do. Voting is one major way to do that,” appears on one slide.
But let’s be clear. Reformation still wants to use this to sell you their clothes. The, at least in my opinion, gorgeous photos of Lewinsky in Reformation brand clothes have tags that link to pages where you can order the apparel for yourself. There’s also one limited edition sweatshirt where a portion of the proceeds will go to vote.org. It helps that the company is putting their money where their mouth is and has donated $25k to the organization.
To be clear, the brand isn’t telling you who to vote for, just reminding you of your civic duty to do so. And while you’re at it, if you want to buy some cute Reformation clothes, maybe feel like you’re helping the cause by getting yourself a new sweatshirt, or even just spend some time gazing at the breathtaking Monica Lewinsky…maybe share the post with some friends, well that would be alright with them too.
