Obama rides US fashion wave

Sinead Carew on how Barack Obama T- shirts, campaign buttons, jewellery and teddy bears are a rage among the young

Shoppers in the New York city may be excused for mistaking Barack Obama for a cult hero in the league of Bob Marley or Che Guevara because like those youth icons, he is being marketed as a fashion item.

Retailers in Manhattan and on the web are using creative slogans and images to profit from the image of the Democratic White House hopeful as he campaigns against Republican rival John McCain ahead of the November election.

There are campaign buttons, jewellery, teddy bears and even women’s underwear thongs. And this merchandise is being sold online at unprecedented levels in a presidential campaign, according to academics and vendors.

"Young people are acting like it’s some kind of revolution.

He’s in demand right now. He’s selling better than everybody," said Union Square vendor Edwin Shan, 37, who sells T-shirts hand-painted with images of Obama. Or, as another Union Square vendor, Maria Khomenko, 21 explained: "Obama is like a trademark now." She said she planned to add him to her line of T-shirts depicting James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and the first man on the moon.

Trendy clothing chain Urban Outfitters stocks T-shirts that read "Obama for yo Mama" and "Barack ’n’ Roll". Republican items include a "Vote ’08" T-shirt sporting a red elephant.

Martin Brill of apparel specialist Sweetwater Consulting said other big stores would be unlikely to follow suit for the fear of alienating some buyers and that Urban Outfitters runs that risk even if many of its young clientele support Obama.

"We just try to sell products that appeal to our customers. We’re not making any kind of political statement at all," Urban Outfitters Chief Financial Officer John Kyees said.

Columbia University professor David Rogers said Obama sells as a fashion statement, "appearing in the consciousness of many youths with the excitement and iconic imagery which drives a youth brand" like revolutionary Guevara or singer Bruce Springsteen.

Penn State political science professor Eric Plutzer, who studies youth voting trends, said America’s young see Obama’s candidacy as "more than politics as usual", and that the craze for Obama items reflects high numbers of young supporters.

"There’s always merchandising but I think merchandising is much more of a popular phenomenon among young citizens."

"I think (Obama’s) drawing large crowds of young people in a way we’ve not seen probably since the 1968 presidential campaign," Pultzer added in a reference to Robert Kennedy’s White House run. Others likened the popularity of the Illinois senator to that of President John F Kennedy.

Sales of Obama gear are well ahead of those depicting Republican rival US Sen John McCain, who appears on badges and other traditional campaign items, some web retailers said.

Popular online retailer cafepress.com, which sells consumer designed items such as T-shirts, mugs and underwear, says Obama now represents about 75 per cent of political sales while items showing McCain account for roughly 10 per cent. Scottsdale, Arizona-based Steve Ferber, who has sold political memorabilia for 30 years, said Obama is outselling McCain three-fold at Lori Ferber Presidential Collections, the online retailer he runs with his wife Lori, who said collectible sales are now the strongest since Ronald Reagan.

Columbia’s Rogers said he would not be surprised if this campaign marks "the most sales of political merchandise ever." While many say Obama’s charisma is a clear factor in the merchandise surge, experts also attribute it to factors such as growing consumerism, the growing popularity of online commerce and the Obama campaign’s success at utilising the web. As part of the campaign’s efforts to reach out to small donors via the internet, website barackobama.com also has a store offering products ranging from T-shirts to winter garb.

"We now have the tremendous ability to market and in an electronic age to reproduce so much more cheaply than we did before," University of Iowa communications professor Bruce Gronbeck said. Because of his age, McCain, who will be 72 in August, would be unlikely to create a similar sales frenzy among fashion-minded young buyers, Gronbeck said. But experts say it is too soon to say if Obama’s popularity in the fashion world will translate into victory in November. "It’s too early to tell if it will last more than most fads," said Penn State’s Plutzer. — Reuters