Retailer says it will lend its clothes to any woman running for public office in the U.S. for free
Women's clothing retailer M.M.LaFleur is working to take one thing off of the to-do list of women running for public office. The company announced this week that it will lend its clothing to any woman on the campaign trail this spring for free.
"We never purport that clothes help move the needle on female representation, but we want to do our part to make things a tiny bit easier," said the brand's founder and CEO Sarah LaFleur in an email Monday night.
LaFleur explained in the message that the day after the 2016 presidential election, the brand reached out via email to the "M.M community calling for conversation among women and asking for your input on how we could best support you."
She said they received more than 1,100 replies from both sides of the aisle within 48 hours, with one of the most common refrains being the need to support more women running for office.
As a result, LaFleur said the brand wanted to to do its "own small part" to support women running for office this election year.
While she said the company has dressed female candidates before, the company decided to "take things a step further" by lending their clothes out for free.
Any woman running for elected office in the U.S. — from a town council seat to a Senate seat — can take the brand up on its offer.
New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lauded the company's move on Instagram.
"When I was running for office (even now!), accessing clothing for the job was a big challenge both logistically and financially," the Democrat wrote on her Instagram story on Tuesday. "When I first elected [sic], I needed an entirely new wardrobe for my new job. I had NO clothes to prepare me for Congress, and if it wasn't for some hand me downs from friends before being sworn in I don't even know what I would have done."
