American Vice President Kamala Harris sends a power-packed message through her sartorial choice

Power dressing with a string of pearls… a formal dress in purple with a matching coat, the very first woman to be the American Vice President, Kamala Harris, set a strong statement through her sartorial choices for the historic swearing in ceremony at the Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Not just the colour of the structured, feminine silhouette of her dress, but the choice of designer sets the tone for her new innings. Christopher John Rogers is a black, queer designer, the recent ‘king of colour’ patronised by the likes of Michelle Obama. While the colour purple is seen as Harris’ acknowledgment to women suffrage, something that she acknowledged in her tweet as well, ‘I’m here today because of the women who came before me’. In the US, purple is traditionally seen as a colour of bipartisanship, a mix of red and blue, colours of the Republican and Democratic parties.

Harris’ choice in colour was deliberate, many see it as a tribute to Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the Congress. She accessorised her attire with her favourite – pearls – for the special swearing in by Wilfredo Rosado and an American flag lapel pin by David Yurman. Looks like those who hoped to see the Madame Vice President in a saree or a creation by Prabal Gurung acknowledging her South-Asian roots have to wait for her acknowledgment of Indian roots.

While President Joe Biden and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff took to Ralph Lauren suits, navy blue and grey, respectively; First Lady Dr Jill Biden stunned in Alexandra O’Neill’s ocean blue ensemble adorned with Swarovski pearls and crystals.

Unity in diversity

An emotional Lady Gaga performed a dramatic version of the US national anthem, Garth Brooks sang a cappella, and Tom Hanks hosted a star-studded celebration to cap President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. On a day marked by diversity and appeals for unity, Gaga wowed in a fuchsia Schiaparelli couture silk skirt and black top adorned by a large gold brooch of a dove carrying an olive branch as she sang The Star-Spangled Banner at the ceremony. Gaga at one point gestured to the US flag flying high over the Capitol. Jennifer Lopez, dressed in white pants and a long matching coat, performed a medley of This Land is Your Land and America The Beautiful, interjecting in Spanish the part of the US Pledge of Allegiance that says, “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Words of emotion

Poet Amanda Gorman captured the mixed emotions of the past four years with a poem in which she called herself a “skinny Black girl, descended from slaves and raised by a single mother (who) can dream of becoming president only to find herself reciting for one.” The cultural celebrations continued with a broadcast across television and social media, hosted by Tom Hanks. The events, bringing together some of the biggest white, Black and Hispanic celebrities, marked a sharp contrast with Trump’s inauguration in 2017, which was low on star power.