US President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, has decided to close down her fashion brand.
The move comes over a year after she split from the company to enter the White House as a senior adviser, BBC reported on Tuesday.
Ivanka Trump launched the brand in 2014, but after her father’s election as US President, was faced with boycotts from shoppers.
She had reportedly become frustrated by the difficulties posed by avoiding possible conflicts of interest while serving in the White House.
A spokesperson for the company said the decision “has nothing to do with the performance of the brand and is based solely on Ivanka’s decision to remain in Washington indefinitely.”
After 17 months in her White House role, Ivanka Trump said she did not know “when or if I will ever return to the business”.
“But I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington, so making this decision now is the only fair outcome for my team and partners,” she said in a statement.
“I am beyond grateful for the work of our incredible team who has inspired so many women; each other and myself included. While we will not continue our mission together, I know that each of them will thrive in their next chapter,” she added.
According to NBC News, she met personally her 18-person staff at Trump Tower in New York City after the company’s closure was announced to employees.
The brand had already been dropped by several retailers such as the Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus department stores and – just last week – Canada’s largest department store chain Hudson’s Bay.
Both companies blamed poor sales for their decision.
Trump’s company is private and does not release sales figures.
But according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited research from Rakuten Intelligence, online sales at Amazon, Macy’s and Bloomingdales fell almost 45 per cent in the year to June.
An investigation by the Washington Post last year found that virtually all of Ivanka Trump’s clothing was manufactured in developing countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and China.
