When the Trump administration’s global tariffs went into effect on 7 August, after months of deliberation and delay, New York Fashion Week was exactly five weeks out. For designers preparing to host runway shows, these new duties presented another hurdle to the already precarious balancing act of running an indie fashion upstart.
Jacques Agbobly, founder and creative director of his eponymous label that specialises in artisanal Togolese-inspired designs, says he had to cut looks from his show after some textiles became too expensive. Agbobly says the brand sources materials from New York’s Garment District, which imports most of its materials from Asia. Agbobly’s satin-faced organza, for example, went up thanks to South Korea’s 15 per cent tariff. American tariffs are more extreme on other Asian countries, with China at a 35 per cent rate and India at a 50 per cent rate, versus EU countries at 15 per cent.